The Prize
by Roja-Cyd
Summary: Akane's a princess, Ranma's not nice, and this time it's Ranma's evil master who kidnaps her! RanmaxAkane Completed
1. Two Many Apprentices

Disclaimer: Ranma and co. don't belong to me but to Rumiko Takahashi.

_Note: I revised ch 1 just a little bit, thanks to Mathew Campbell's C&C. Some of the lines are directly taken from him. His advice was invaluable, not to mention incredibly funny._

_A/N: _I'm a fan of Dark Ranma, and I don't feel like there are enough of those stories out there. If you know any more, please let me know!

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**Chapter 1**

The _Mattie Horn _was a beautiful merchant ship, sleek and new, proudly skimming the waves with ease.

High, high up on the tiny, creaky crowsnest of the ship perched Seijiro the little cabin boy. He solemnly watched the endless blue sheet of water gleaming before him in the sunlight, shading his eyes with a dirty little palm.

The merchant ship was not far from land and the captain had promised a silver piece to the first man to spot the Nerima harbour.

Down on the deck of the ship, sailors talked and laughed and worked hard as they kept an eye on the weather. The scent of land came to them on the sea breeze and made them homesick. They had been away from Nerima for too long.

Up on the crow's nest, Seijiro sat up in a quick motion, his skinny body straining forward…

What was that?

Had he imagined that silver flash? He held his pose for a minute, squinting hard to see. There it was again. What in the seven seas was it? It looked like a… The boy got to his feet, leaning over the edge of the nest.

Then, his eyes bulged out, and he let out a shout.

"Captain! Captain! Sea monster!"

Below him, the sailors looked up curiously. "Seijiro! What did you say?" they called up.

"Seeeea monster!" Seijiro bellowed in terror, leaving his perch and skimming down the ropes as fast as he could.

"Did he say sea monster?" enquired a sailor, smiling uncertainly at his fellows. They knew such things existed, but they were so close to land that it was unlikely.

"Look! Look!" the boy shouted as he got closer. He dashed to the ship's railing and paused to point in the direction of the ship's prow.

The first mate got out a spyglass. "By Black Rock's giant turtles! It's a bleedin' snake as big as the ship!" he cried out, even as he stared through his instrument, aghast. His sunburnt skin turned grey with fear.

Sailors ran to the edge of the ship, grasping the side and squinting into the sun.

"A dragon? Don't be ridiculous!" cried the captain, not daring to leave his post at the wheel.

But now all the sailors could see it. Weaving through the water at a supernaturally high speed, a long silver thread glinted on the surface of the sea as it raced towards them. Even as the captain tried to believe his eyes, the sailors rushed for every weapon they could find.

No! He carried very precious, special cargo! How could this happen to him? The captain hastily wondered what to do.

"Rami, our…" he cried to his first mate.

"I'm on it, Captain!" The first mate ran for the lower deck. He had special cargo indeed, but the orders from his true master were different from what the captain might expect. He'd been awaiting their visitor.

Within minutes, the serpent had reached them and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was indeed what the boy had claimed- a sea serpent. Coil after shining coil looped around the wooden ribs of the ship even as the hapless sailors hacked futilely at the metallic scales with their weapons. A great long face, almost horselike in shape, more than twenty feet from ear to chin, grinned with sharp needle fangs at them. Huge webbed ears sprang out above each jaw.

As the serpent opened its deep red mouth wide and darted towards the deck, the cabin boy looked close and saw in astonishment that a young man was seated astride the serpent. The young man, a few years older than himself, was grinning from ear to ear, and he appeared to be talking into the serpent's ear.

Then the serpent's coils crushed the ship to matchwood, and even as Seijiro stared at the boy riding the serpent, the cabin boy lost his footing and fell into the sea.

Sailors dove off the ship, abandoning the _Mattie Horn_ in her death throes. The masts keeled over, crashing into the sea, as the serpent charged through the remnants of planks and cargo, its muscular tail causing even more destruction as it flailed back and forth.

The broken masts floated in the water, two of them still attached to each other with rigging. Sailors swam to them, fighting to keep afloat.

In the water, Seijiro watched the boy riding the serpent. No one else seemed to be aware of him. They were busy trying to save their own lives.

As the older boy looked about, grinning at the scene he'd caused, his fierce blue eyes met Seijiro's brown ones for a moment. Unlike the cabin boy's soft cotton shorts and ragged shirt, the rider's clothes were black and rich, ornate in design.

His black hair flew around his head like a demons' aura, Sejiro dreamily thought, unaware that he was immobile from shock and the cold water. Even as he stared at the mysterious serpent rider, Seijiro's vision dimmed to two tiny pinpoints.

The serpent-rider watched with apparent indifference as the boy sank silently into the arms of the sea. He whispered a command to his dragon.

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An hour later, on a lonely stretch of sandy beach, Ranma hefted a sack and dismounted from the great silver serpent. He snapped his fingers to dismiss her as he approached the entrance to his own master's dwelling place, a cave.

She made a low, fluting sound and Ranma stopped.

"Enough! You've had your fun," he said without looking back at his loving pet. "Go home. I'll call you when I want you."

The serpent slid silently back into the water, hardly a gurgle noting her passing.

Ranma moved his left palm over the cave entrance. Something shimmered there, and he passed through without disturbing the soft sand under his finely crafted boots. Even as he stepped into a large, domed hall, something hard clanged against the wall next to him, and fell down.

He paused, looked down mildly at the fallen dented copper pot.

"I assume I've displeased you again," he said.

"R…Ranma! Wretched creature! I told you to bring me some m…meat before you left!" Another metal pot smashed mere inches away from Ranma's shoulder. "What do you expect me to c…cook when you're always gallivanting around?!"

Amused, he looked up at the purple-haired thrower. He hardly noticed her angry stammer anymore. It was quite lost in her combative personality.

"I thought you'd go get it yourself, witch," he said mildly. "Was that task too hard for you, or were you just too damn lazy?"

"W…What did you say?" Shampoo screeched. "I'm lazy? What about you, you jackass? Were you too busy making sandcastles with your w…wittle pet?""

"I was given an errand, Shampoo," he said, bowing mockingly.

"Errand?" shouted the lavender haired girl in the soft, linen gown. "What sort of errand…?"

"_I _sent him on an errand, Shampoo," drawled a deep masculine voice, making Shampoo's eyes widen in surprise and dismay.

She bowed immediately. "My lord Kulloden," she whispered. "I d…didn't know…"

Darkness moved, pooled, grew into a figure of a man with two long, shining shanks of black hair that fell past his shoulders, held back only by a knot. His robes were of deepest black. His face was like the blade of a knife- sharp and dangerous. His deep-set eyes regarded Ranma and Shampoo with amusement.

"Master Kulloden," Ranma said, and bowed deep, this time with no mockery.

"My apprentices," Kulloden said. "Shampoo, it is not for you to question what Ranma does with his time. His time is mine, as is yours. Need I remind you?"

"N...no, Master," Shampoo sounded suitably chastened, yet Ranma could tell she was already plotting payback for his own earlier comments. No doubt Kulloden knew it too, yet he was content to let his two apprentices bicker between themselves. Only today he apparently had no patience for it.

"Ranma!" he barked. "Make your report to me."

"Master," Ranma went to one knee, yet still looking up proudly. "The attack went well. The king's men were caught completely unawares, and Sivari was able to annihilate the ship…"

"Yes yes," his master said impatiently. "Did you get the treasure?"

"I did, my lord," Ranma said, letting the sack he was carrying slide down to the ground with a solid thump.

"It was ready?" Kulloden moved forward eagerly. "You were careful, my son, were you not?"

"Ready and waiting, my lord," Ranma replied. "I had to crush the ship to find it, but your man had the sack waiting for me just before he jumped into the water with the other sailors. I was careful, as you commanded. I made sure it stayed dry, and I was gentle with it."

He didn't bother telling them about fishing the young half-drowned cabin boy out of the water and depositing him with the other sailors on the floating masts.

"Wonderful!" Kulloden exclaimed, moving forward to untie the mouth of the sack. "It seems some in the palace are loyal to me after all." He peered inside, chuckled, and lifted up the sack.

"Behold their precious cargo!" he proclaimed, and tilted the sack so that a damp, mussed young woman fell out and landed, unconscious, on the sandy floor.

Ranma and Shampoo looked on in some surprise, though Ranma less than Shampoo. The feel of a body, even in a bag, was unmistakable. The girl lay on the floor, clothed in a thin, silken gown that clung to her limbs, her long blue-black hair wrapped around her pale skin like tangled seaweed.

"Is this…?" Ranma said, then stopped. He ran his gaze over the girl, watched the way her chest fell and rose so shallowly.

"Yes! This is only the first part, remember." Kulloden moved to stand over the limp form that reminded Ranma uncomfortably of a broken doll he'd seen somewhere.

"The p…princess of the T…Tendos," Shampoo said wide-eyed. She crept closer, taking in every detail of limb and face and dress, no doubt satisfying her curiosity about royalty. Ranma had no such curiosity. He turned away and walked to the low stone table and poured himself a flagon of wine.

"That's correct, my little Shampoo," Kulloden was saying. His deep, hollow black eyes were alight with triumph. "Princess Akane, the sister of Prince Kuno, daughter of the Tendo king. A precious prize, indeed."

Ranma said nothing, only took a deep drink of wine from his cup.

The sorcerer turned to his servant.

"You are unhappy, Ranma, my child," he noted. "You disapprove?"

Ranma shook his head. "You might have told me what I was stealing, lord."

"I've been planning this for longer than you can know," Ranma's master said coldly. "You both know that much. You are privy to my greatest plans. You quibble over details?"

"Of course not, lord." Ranma drained his cup and set it aside. "Your desire is always my command."

"So… the princess… has been kidnapped," Shampoo said slowly. She looked apprehensive and excited at the same time. "Oh, my lord, d…does that mean it is t…time for…?"

"Yes. You may prepare the cauldron. I have nearly completed the spell. And now I have my last required ingredient. Soon, we'll be ready." The sorcerer studied the prone princess. "Ranma, convey her to a secure place. We have great need of her. For now."

Ranma watched as the sorcerer turned to a column of oily darkness and melted away. Then he approached the small heap on the floor.

"L…look at her, asleep on the floor!" Shampoo was indignant. "Daughter of a k…king. Pah! Useless! W…what a shallow life she leads! A l…leech on the public!"

"Since when do you care about the public?" Ranma slapped Shampoo lightly on the back.

"S…since never, but royalty shouldn't be so completely useless for anything!" Shampoo's animosity had found a different target.

"Time to move our royalty."

"W…Where will you put her?" Shampoo asked, her irritation suddenly forgotten in her excitement.

Ranma considered. "The hole, I suppose. Where else?"

Shampoo shuddered as he'd known she would. "T…The hole! She'll scream herself hoarse in there! Why not the p…pantry? It has a barred door. And w…we won't have to hear screaming."

Ranma shrugged and bent to pick up the slight form. For a princess, she was very light, he thought. Her clothes were nearly transparent, made of layers of soft veils. Only her hair made her heavy. Long locks of it hung from her head, hiding her face and caressing his legs as he carried her towards the pantry.

Ranma tried not to think of her at all as he walked.

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Princess Akane Le Tatewaki Ur Tendo woke up with a cold. Her head felt like a throbbing sponge, and her nose was ready to drop off.

Eyes still closed, Akane wondered where her nurse was, even as she grimaced at the unaccustomed hardness of her bed. Immediately she smoothed out her features. Princesses never grimaced.

"S…she's awake!" A voice pierced her thoughts. "I thought the potion would keep her asleep a few more hours."

"She's been asleep for two days already, stupid. The potion has to wear off at some point! You'll never be a sorceress at this rate."

"I'm closer to being a sorceress than you are to being a s..s..sorcerer, Ranma!"

Akane tried to open her eyes, but they seemed sealed shut. She lifted her hand, expecting a servant to instantly give her a cup of hot chocolate. No such cup was forthcoming. Akane finally cracked one eye open, and peered around.

Oh, she was still dreaming. Hmm, she seemed to be in some sort of cave this time. She caressed the sandy floor with one hand. It felt remarkably real. She touched a hand to her gown. It was very stiff and seemed to be full of particles. What an uncomfortable dream to be having!

"You're not dreaming," came an amused voice, and Akane looked around. She was in a small cave, and a barred door held her in.

Through the bars, she could see two people. Both were odd looking, but one caught her attention immediately.

He was a young man of her own age, dressed in a black tunic and leggings, trimmed with red. He slouched against some stacked crates, eating an apple as he watched her. _Why _was he watching her? No man was allowed to look at the royal princess so boldly! His cobalt-blue eyes studied her casually, with a familiarity that made her blush.

She switched her attention to the girl, lavender haired, dressed in a purple linen gown.

"T…This is real and you're n…not dreaming," stammered the girl, a twisted smile on her face.

"I…Who are you?" Akane asked uncertainly.

"N…No one you need to know, princess," the girl snapped.

Akane stared. Surely she hadn't dreamt up someone this rude, had she? And who was the mysterious looking prince? Was he here to rescue her?

The girl snorted. "What a shrinking violet! Well, we've been w…waiting for you to wake up! The potion is finally ready. It's too bad you didn't stay asleep a while longer."

She opened the door and bent to enter Akane's prison. Akane watched timidly as the girl came forward.

"C…Come here!" Shampoo said harshly. She caught the shocked Akane in her grasp, wound a hand around her long hair, and with a flash of her silver knife, severed the princess' silky black locks even as she muttered words in an arcane language.

Akane went into shock. Had...had the girl truly cut off her hair? At about this time, it occurred to Akane that she could not have dreamt up something so horrible as someone cutting off her prized hair. This was all real. This girl was real. The boy standing at the entrance, watching her, was no prince, but some horrible demon!

And they had cut off her hair!

Stunned beyond any words, Akane slowly moved a hand towards her hair, then stopped. She couldn't bear to touch the cropped off ends. She watched as Shampoo grabbed the silken locks and let herself out.

"G…Good bye, violet, though, w…when you think about it, I'll be s…seeing you frequently!" She giggled and told the boy, "Bring her!"

"Why don't you bring her, 'violet'?" Ranma glanced pointedly at Shampoo's hair.

Shampoo hissed wordlessly at him and left, Akane's hair clutched to her bosom.

Ranma watched as the princess' hand hovered uncertainly over her cropped hair. The girl had the look of a deer caught by a hunter, her big brown eyes wide and stunned, and filling with tears. She was completely oblivious to him. She stared after Shampoo with an expression of inconsolable loss.

Why on earth had she taken it so hard? It was just hair. She ought to look more scared about her captivity.

"Hair grows back, you know. It's just a matter of time." Ranma snapped his mouth shut when the princess turned her tear-filled eyes to him. What had made him blurt that out? He'd been determined not to even talk to her.

"Where am I?" she breathed. "What's happened to me?"

Even as Ranma watched, comprehension came into her eyes.

"I was on the ship…" she said slowly. "A _jiaolong_ attacked us, I think. I heard the sailors yelling, and then someone grabbed me from behind, tried to force that vile concoction down my throat…"

She'd used the old folk name for the serpent, Ranma noted.

"You're my master's prisoner," he said shortly. "That's all you need to know."

"Will you…will you ransom me?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Ranma lied.

She sat back, relief in her bent posture. Then she tensed as Ranma slowly entered the prison and stood over her. She stared up at him fearfully, crouched at his feet with her shorn hair and ragged clothes, reminding him yet again of a small discarded doll. Suddenly impatient with his odd imaginings, Ranma wrapped an arm around her slim waist and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her screams.

"No, please!" she cried, her mouth muffled against his back. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?"

"Hush!" he said sternly, tightening his fingers around her thighs. She gave a muffled sob.

He walked back up into the main hall, where a large, cast iron cauldron was bubbling in the fire pit in the middle of the room. Akane twisted around him to see where he was headed and saw Kulloden and the cauldron.

"Now," said Kulloden, who was standing over the cauldron. Beside him, Shampoo tossed the handfuls of hair she'd stolen from Akane, then looked up at her master with trepidation.

"Trust me, Shampoo," he said.

Shampoo closed her eyes, pulled off her homespun gown and jumped in. Immediately the mixture bubbled up. Kulloden frowned and said a few words. The mixture smoothed out, grew translucent, and became as clear as water.

Out of this mixture rose a humanoid form. Akane tensed against the curve of Ranma's shoulder as yet another shock was dealt to her.

Princess Akane, smiling and long-haired, stood hip deep in the cauldron.

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Akane won't stay as timid as she looks! If you like the story, review! Aw, review anyway! :) C'mon, click the button now…


	2. Bound For Disaster

A/N: Yes, I know Akane was awfully meek in the last chapter, not at all the lioness we're used to. But she won't always be like that.

Frostbite- I really am working on Tokens AND Hearts or Diamonds, but I've hit a block there. I've got the beginning and the ending of the last chapter, it's just the middle that's got me stuck! If it helps, I wrote one more page today. The thing is, I also got married in the meantime, just three weeks ago, so you can see it's been hectic!

Also, I definitely promise more than a kiss for our favourite couple! :D

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Chapter 2 

_No! It can't be!_

Akane hung upside-down from her captor's shoulders, her soft cheek digging into his spine, and stared in horror at her doppelganger standing hip-deep in the sorcerer's cauldron. _It is darkest sorcery_, her mind warned her.

"She looks like me," the princess whispered, unable to take her eyes off the wet Shampoo. "What have you done?"

"You're better off not knowing," the stranger carrying her replied. She could feel the vibrations when he spoke, pressed as she was against his back. She didn't know who he was, who any of them were, or what was going on. She'd been sailing home to Nerima when a sea serpent, a water dragon, had attacked the ship. She had woken as the prisoner of this boy who now carried her, and the girl who had suddenly assumed Akane's own face. But the sorcerer, he was surely the most evil of all. She could sense it.

"The spell is nearly complete." Satisfaction showed in Kulloden's pale, thin face. "Now…" he began. 

All hell broke loose.

There was a sudden crash, and a blast of wind entered the chamber from the entrance tunnel, sweeping sand before it. There were shouts and the sound of running feet. They'd come to rescue her, Akane was sure of it.

And when soldiers wearing her father's royal colours swept in with swords upheld, such relief hit Akane that she nearly forgot to be embarrassed that a strange boy held her in such an odd position.

The dark sorcerer frowned and raised his arms, his long, bony fingers extended. He reminded Akane of a crow she'd seen on the castle walls once, its cruel claws and tattered feathers marking it as a bird of prey. She gasped as he fired bolt after bolt of energy at the soldiers, stopping them in their tracks, felling them like trees.

"Villain! For stealing the princess, you shall suffer…" A skinny youth in loose robes and a pointed hat marched towards the cauldron, his arms out flung as his fingers moved. Shampoo recoiled, fear on her face. Mousse. Akane recognized the apprentice to the court magician. She was not well acquainted with Mousse. He was hardly someone a royal princess was required to consort with, but she had heard reports from her giggling ladies-in-waiting about Mousse's magical 'accidents' in the laboratory. 

She searched the soldiers and saw a tall, dark-haired figure brandishing his sword.

Kuno. She was almost glad to see even him.

"Akane!" Kuno shouted, gladness in his voice as he spied the petite princess. He strode towards the cauldron, shoving the skinny apprentice out of the way, his eyes sweeping Shampoo's wet form before raising his gaze to hers. "Sister, I've found you!"

Shampoo abruptly stopped thinking up spells of attack as she realized that her golden opportunity had come. This eager oaf thought she was the princess. He'd called her sister. That meant he must be the crown prince of the Tendos. She really must look exactly like Akane. The joyous expression on the young man's face showed her her reflection better than the rippling water in the cauldron.  

"Brother!" she cried, and fell into his arms, sobbing in a maidenly fashion. Kuno looked surprised, for she'd never greeted him in quite that friendly a manner before, and then gratified.

Akane's heart sank.

"No!" she shouted. "No, can't you see I'm the one who…?" A hand clamped around her mouth even as she screamed the words. Desperation gave Akane new strength, and she bit Ranma's hand, gagging at its salty taste.

Ranma grimaced but he didn't let go. She hadn't bitten him very hard. He suspected the princess was not used to fighting. At any rate, he was caught on the proverbial horns of a dilemma. Rush to his master's rescue or hold on to Akane so that Shampoo could proceed with their plan?

He pushed Akane's face with the hand he had on her mouth, caught her with his other arm as he turned her in his grip so that she was now clasped securely against him.  He was slightly hidden in the shadow of an alcove, but soon the soldiers would see him.

There was only one option.

Akane yipped as she felt Ranma's hand on her neck, and then fell limp as he pressed a vital point.

Kuno had lifted Shampoo out of the cauldron, and was carrying her tenderly in his arms. Mousse had produced a pair of thick glasses from somewhere and was blinking owlishly through them. He blushed at the thought that he might accidentally have attacked Princess Akane.

"Over there!" A solider shouted. "Another sorcerer! Get him!"

"Where? Where?" Mousse cried, eager to make up for his mistake. He saw a form carrying something hiding behind an alcove. Ah yes! Retribution would yet be his! He set off with a war cry, soldiers behind him.

They'd spotted him! Ranma cursed, turned on his heel as he hefted the unconscious Akane and ran back the way he'd come, soldiers at his heels.

He needed his hands to create a spell and both arms were full of princess. He dare not release her, lest the soldiers discover that there were two princesses. Then their ruse would be discovered and Kulloden's plan would come to naught.

_Dragon's balls!_

The soldiers pursued with even more enthusiasm when they realized that this sorcerer was not going to attack them any time soon, for whatever reason. Yet even with his burden, Ranma managed to stay ahead of his pursuers, his knowledge of Kulloden's cave serving him well.

He wove through the tunnels, going higher and higher into the mountain that rose behind Kulloden's hideout, but the soldiers, trained by the king's famous general, kept up.

At first, the foremost of the pursuers chanted and shot spells at him. He missed, sending green sparks careening off the rocks. No doubt a young sorcerer of some kind, without much practice. Ranma ran for what felt like hours, and eventually the area he was passing through began to look less and less familiar.

I've got to lose them, Ranma thought frantically, and I can't do that with a princess hanging around my neck!

Just as he was debating his options, he saw a blue glow ahead. Freedom! It looked like an exit. With renewed hope, he ran on.

Behind him, Mousse's heart sank when he too recognized the escape.

_No! I can't let him go! I'll prove to Master Happosai that I'm worthy…!_

Pulling every shred of energy and skill together, Mousse spread his palms, brought them inward to his chest, closed them into fists, muttering what he hoped was the right spell under his breath.

"Was it..er..vincio..or..divincio…?" Making a quick decision, Mousse yelled out, "Devincio dono!" and opened his fingers.

A green flash erupted from his hands, and blasted Ranma in the small of the back just as he leapt out to safety. The energy poured out into Ranma, bowing his back outward from its strength, even as he fell, Akane still cradled in his arms. He had only a moment to look, and see that he was fast falling into an endless sheet of blue. Then blackness took him.

"Oh no!" Mousse stood at the precipice, looking down into the sea below. He looked around him. Their tunnel opened onto the face of a cliff, and hundreds of feet below them, the tide churned viciously against the sharp rocks. The sorcerer was no doubt dead.

He turned to the soldiers. "I suppose we'd better get back to the ship. I don't see much point in going furthur."

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Ranma's head broke the water and he swam in place, drawing in fresh breaths of air. He looked around, but nothing marred the calm surface of the sea. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but presumably the princess had drowned in the interim.

He sighed. She was much better off that way. She wouldn't have liked what Kulloden had planned for her after Shampoo left. He wondered what had happened to his master. He still felt the sorcerer's geas on him, so he knew that Kulloden yet lived. 

Ranma sniffed.

"Not like those men in tin cans could be much of a challenge to him, anyway," he muttered, thinking of the soldiers. "Might as well go find him." 

He began to swim away, towards shore. And stopped. Something was caught on his foot. Or tugging on it. Whatever it was, the creature was about to reach its Piscean doom. Ranma dove underwater, trying to see what held his leg captive.

There was nothing.

The pulling grew stronger, however. Curious, Ranma swam deeper, and deeper still, into the dark depths of a shallow cave. There, he found Akane. She lay supine on the sand, her chopped hair and filmy clothing floating softly in the current.

Distracted, Ranma swam closer and lifted her. He placed an arm about her shoulders and swam to the surface pulling her, then to the shore.

Once on dry ground, he placed her on her back and examined her carefully. She wasn't breathing. That could be fixed. He knelt next to her, his shadow falling over her unconscious form.

"Respirae," he said, focusing a slight bit of energy on her. The energy pooled in him, went outward to Akane…came back.

"What?" he said, so surprised that he didn't realize he'd spoken out loud. None of his spells had ever rebounded like that, unless the other person was using a shield, and this girl obviously was not.

"Respirae!" He tried again, forcing more energy into her this time. The magic rebounded into him again.

Ranma looked around, wondering if this was some kind of trick. Was she a magician? Even a sorcerer? Had she wound some kind of defensive spell about herself?

No. If she had, he'd have sensed it.

Puzzled, he stared down at her, and noticed that she was turning blue.

"Dragon's blood!" he cursed. She needed air.

He bent down, cupped her face with his hands, sealed her cold lips with his own warm ones, and blew. He raised his head to examine her for any sign of life. He repeated this a few times until suddenly she began coughing.

Ranma withdrew to a safe distance as he watched her spit up a gallon of seawater. She sat up, and began squinting around miserably, getting used to the bright afternoon sunshine. Her eyes alighted on him and widened.

"You!" She pointed, then lowered her hand abruptly. "You!" She said again.

"I'm Ranma," Ranma said patiently. He stood and wiped off his loose black trousers. "Not that that need interest you. As I will no longer be sharing your company, delightful as it's been."

Akane blinked, disoriented. She'd woken to a dark cave, some loud and odd things had happened, and now she'd woken up to a completely different setting, a deserted beach. Well, deserted except for her captor. And this time she was not going to make the mistake of assuming it was all a dream.

"But my father's soldiers came," she began. "I should have been rescued by now."

Ranma stayed quiet. Her memory would return soon enough.

"That...hussy!" Akane exclaimed. "She fooled them all into believing that she was I!" She began to get up. "I must return to the capital immediately and advise them of this duplicitous…"

"I'm afraid that will be a trifle hard, pri…Akane," Ranma said firmly.

She gaped at him.

"How dare you address me so informally, sir!" she demanded, pint-sized royalty that she was. He regarded her with some amusement. She was perhaps a year or so younger than him, if that. Yet their upbringings were so different.

"You are no longer the princess. Shampoo is. This is a small deserted island, with little food or water, and no way off except by boat. It's not on any of the Neriman shipping routes. You'd be best off conserving your energies and looking for a meal."

Having said these words, Ranma turned his back on the astonished princess and walked off. He planned to take avian form and fly off the island. It was the only thing he could do. She really was better off on the island. Possibly, once all this was over, he might drop in to check on her. There was more food than he'd let on. There were coconut trees and breadfruit trees further in, and she would find a spring of some kind.

Ranma stopped as something tugged hard at him. He turned, but there was nothing except the princess a few feet away, still watching him dazedly. He turned, tried to continue, but it was as though there was a fishing hook in his chest. He simply could not continue, although he tried to propel his feet onwards.

"What the hell...?" he muttered. A spell. He could recognize it. Dragon's balls. The pint-sized princess had put a spell on him, HIM, a sorcerer's apprentice. He tested it with every mental tool he had. It was strong. He could feel the energy vibrating on an invisible leash from him to her. He walked back to her and picked her up before she knew what was happening.

"What are you doing?" Akane shrieked, realizing that he was carrying her into the water. "You...!" She didn't have time to say more as Ranma pushed her head under the water, held it there for a few seconds, and then brought her back up, dripping and choking.

"You monster!" she gasped. "What are you…?"

"Tell me," he said, his grey eyes cool and emotionless. "Tell me how you Bound me to you."

"Bound…?" 

He pushed her under again, held her there despite all her struggles, and brought her back up.

"How did you bind me?" he asked again, a hint of anger brightening the grey eyes. "You don't give off the power a sorcerer or even a magician would. How did you do it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Akane protested and tried to take a much needed breath as he pushed her under again.

Ranma held her there until her struggles weakened, then hauled her out and began to walk back to shore with her.

She cried weakly, too exhausted to do anything but sag against him. On the shore, Ranma put her down. He flayed every bit of compassion from his soul and slapped her. She made a soft cry, and put her hand to her stinging face.

"Akane," he said, in such a dangerous voice that she looked up, afraid. He'd taken a dagger out of a leather sheath and now held it in front of her face. "I'm going to ask you one last time. How did you Bynde me? If you don't answer truthfully, I will kill you right here and leave your body for the birds."

Staring up into his cold, grey eyes, Akane believed him. She noted absently that his eyes were also framed by long, thick sooty lashes.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about, I give you my word," she said. "If you won't accept that, you can kill me like the woman-slayer you are!" She clapped a hand to her mouth. She never spoke so graphically. A lady was always polite. But most ladies didn't have to look down the blade of a dagger or another dunking, either.

Ranma studied her face, and with a sinking heart, believed her. It explained why he had felt no magical aura about her. But…he was bound to her. How had it happened?

He cast his mind back over everything, and remembered. The skinny magician's apprentice….his green spell, hitting Ranma and Akane just as they fell into the ocean.

Cursing softly, Ranma turned on his heel and walked off for a distance. Immediately he began to feel the pull of the binding. It was like another geas. It made his flesh crawl. Tied to this slip of a girl…

And no wonder his magic had rebounded on him! From what he knew of a binding, or Byndeing as sorcerers called it, he could perform very little magic unless Akane gave him permission. He was tied to her like her soul was.

He fisted his hands, unable to believe his bad luck. He could hardly let her know how she'd incapacitated him.

A thought struck him and he turned back to her.

"Who was that boy chasing us?"

"What boy?" She tried to scoot backwards, away from him. For some odd reason, he reminded her of her old tutor, who hadn't hesitated to rap her on the knuckles when she gave him an answer he didn't like, princess or no princess.

Ranma remembered she'd been unconscious when they'd been running down the tunnels.

"The skinny boy with spectacles."

"That's Mousse."

"Yes?"

"He's Happosai's apprentice."

"Who is Happosai?"

"Our court magician."

"I see." Ranma thought for another second. "I suppose Mousse resides in the palace then."

"Naturally." Akane sniffled, feeling very sorry for herself, left to the mercy of this horrid beast. "So did I, until recently."

"I know," Ranma said, in the kindest tone he'd used yet. Startled, Akane glanced up at him. "No doubt you wish to get back. Home. To the palace."

Akane was sheltered, but she wasn't stupid.

"You wish to go to the palace?" she asked. She thought out loud. "You want to see…Mousse. Because…Mousse put this spell...this binding on you?" She jumped at the scowl Ranma sent her way.

"It's not wise to ask too many questions, princess." Apparently he was back to addressing her by her rightful title. "Do you wish to go home or not?"

"And if I do?" Akane asked, hope fragile within her.

"Then it seems that we share a common goal, for now." Ranma paused. He had to word this carefully, allowing Akane to give him permission to do magic without alerting her to the fact. "The only way to get off this island is by sorcery."

"Why don't you do it then?" Ranma did not strike Akane as the sort to stand around explaining things, and his behaviour puzzled her. She didn't understand what Ranma meant by binding. What was he bound to do? 

"I take it you want me to take the form of a giant bird and carry you to safety?" Ranma took care to make his voice sound slightly sarcastic.

"Well, yes, if that's what it takes." No sooner had Akane finished speaking than a wind sprang up, centered around Ranma, blowing his bangs around. He had raised his hands, spread his arms apart even as he muttered something and then a ribbon of blue energy swirled around him in a spiral. 

When the wind died down, a large hawk, the size of a horse, shook its wings where Ranma had been standing.

Akane stared. Then she reminded herself that princesses didn't stare. Did he expect her to climb on, by herself? Why, she never even climbed on a horse by herself! The bird gave her an impatient look out of one sharp, golden eye and Akane took a deep breath and approached.

The bird held out its wing. Akane gingerly stepped on.

"Eek!" The hawk raised the wing suddenly, sending Akane tumbling onto his back, so that she sprawled around his neck. She sat up, irritated, straightened her dress, and took an unnecessarily fierce grab of the hawk's neck feathers but the bird didn't seem to notice.

With a rush of air, the hawk flapped its powerful wings and shot into the air like a golden, feathered arrow, leaving Akane gasping with fear and clinging to his warm, soft neck with all her might, helpless as though she were not a girl clinging for dear life to his mighty shoulders, but prey caught in the hawk's talons.

*************

 Well, well, what now? Akane wants to get home, but will it really be that easy with her enemy knowing her movements?

Click and review!


	3. Fool me once

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma and co. They belong to a better writer.

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The common people of Nerima crowded around with awe as the royal procession slowly made its way up the hill to the lofty palace walls. 

At the front of the procession rode the elegant, upright figure of their princess, seated in front of her brother the crown prince on his white warhorse as it stepped proudly through the crowd, jingling the bells threaded through its thick silver mane. Behind them rode a contingent of soldiers in strict formation, their spears and helmets gleaming in the afternoon sunshine.

The people strained to get a glimpse of her, but her face was hidden as usual behind a translucent veil. They didn't mind. They were joyous that she had been saved and her kidnappers punished.

Little did they imagine that the slim figure on the horse was NOT the princess.

Shampoo sat stiffly before Prince Kuno, fear and excitement rising in her as they neared the palace. Her hands clenched beneath the cloak she was wrapped in. Kuno and his guards had naturally believed she was Akane since they thought they had saved her from the evil sorcerer, but now their party was approaching Akane's home. Her parents, the king and queen, were perhaps not so easily fooled. Everyone who knew Akane lived here. Would Shampoo be able to carry off the deception?

Shampoo's master Kulloden had expected that they would have a few days to observe the Princess Akane when they held her captive, to allow Shampoo to copy her behaviour. However, they'd lost that chance when the soldiers attacked so early.

Yet again, she wondered how the soldiers had found them so quickly.

Shampoo felt a pang for her master. Ever since the pale, thin sorcerer had brought her into his home twelve years ago, she'd served him. Never once had she known him to be at a loss. It must have been devastating for him to be attacked when he wasn't ready. Yet the dark sorcerer was powerful and wily. Shampoo was fairly certain that her master was older than he looked. In fact, he'd looked the same for as long as she'd known him. His jet-black hair had never gained a hint of gray, and those obsidian eyes had retained their cold glitter. She had no doubt he had escaped. She only hoped they could maintain contact somehow.

As for Ranma, she didn't doubt that her fellow-apprentice would wiggle his way out of trouble like a mongrel. That's all he was, anyway. A street-rat that Kulloden had adopted from the wharfs for no good reason that she could see. So he was a beneficiary of Kulloden's kindness, like her, but he was too cocky for his own good and if he had some trouble escaping, all the better! A malicious smile crossed Shampoo's stolen face at the thought.

The false princess looked ahead, anticipating her 'return'. They'd entered the city gates a while ago, and there had been a big hubbub when the guards and citizens learned she'd been 'rescued'. Shampoo had only seen some glances thrown at Kuno and her before knees were bent in obeisance.

The party had traveled up the gentle hill to the drawbridge, where eager guards saluted them and waved them onto the palace grounds, past the spelled granite from the eastern mines that made up the outer walls and kept intruders out.

Looking around her, Shampoo was glad that the veil hid her wonderment and curiosity. The Neriman palace was indeed a sight to behold. The grounds were a hive of noise and activity. Soldiers drew bows and shot arrows at wooden targets on an archery field. Next to them, servants were busy pushing large, heavy carts of something. Groups of ladies loitered, talking softly. Young pages ran here and there, bearing important messages to and from the nobles. 

It all looked very busy, but quite faded in comparison to the large, moon-white palace that the great-great-great-grandfather of the present Tendo king had built. It looked like a very large, white eagle, perched over the rest of the city. Tall, white columns supported its two wings, and several more stories continued upwards. Lush gardens surrounded the palace itself, and swept away to the back. 

Even as Shampoo gaped up at the palace with her mouth open and taking it all in, unable to believe her luck, Kuno was talking.

"Welcome home, Akane. Mother and Father will be so grateful that I was able to rescue you in time." Kuno fervently pressed Shampoo closer to him, which annoyed her. Wasn't he just a bit too affectionate with his sister?

"Well, perhaps he's simply glad to have me back!" she told herself. Nevertheless, she was glad to descend from the horse and be embraced by the king and queen, and other members of the court.

************

Akane sat on the hawk's back and surveyed the sea below her in awe. Never before had she imagined that water could look like a living sheet of silk, stretching to the horizon, where the cerulean sky was stitched to it. She felt as though she was encased in a sphere of blue glass. It was a very different view than she'd gotten from the prow of the ship. She'd quite forgotten her initial fear of flying.

"This is magnificent!" Her excitement couldn't be contained and she clutched the hawk's golden neck feathers more tightly, her fingers reveling in the feel of the soft down. "Why, if the court painters could but see this, surely it would fire their imaginations for a lifetime!"

To her right, land was approaching. This was even more fascinating, as she could pick out details she had only previously studied about in geography lessons. There were the Mermaid mountains, so named because they rolled gently, like mermaids in the sea. Closer still, Akane could see the jagged extinct volcano, Hinako.

To her right, the King's Forest stretched for miles, covering hills and plateaus. It was almost like a green sea itself. Farther away, she could see the busy harbour, where ships from other countries brought goods of all kinds. From there, the city grew until it nearly reached the forest.

Instinctively, Akane looked for the palace. It was hard to see, but she could make out the inner city, and the royal palace perched on the hill in the center. She breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't look very far. They might easily fly there.

Even as she thought the words, Ranma swooped towards the ground, and landed in a cloud of dust raised by his mighty wings. 

He changed to human form so suddenly that Akane, who had been clinging to his neck feathers ferociously, found herself blinking and clinging to his very human neck and looking closely into his blue-gray eyes as she sat in his arms.

She blinked, blushed and hopped off rather awkwardly.

"Er…er…why did you change?" she stammered, brushing at her long dress and looking elsewhere. "We could have flown on till we reached the palace!"

"I'm not a flying machine, princess." Ranma folded his arms, irritated. "I'm only an apprentice, and my magic is not boundless. Perhaps…" He stopped. He'd been about to say that perhaps one day he'd be as powerful as Kulloden but that didn't seem like a very good idea at the moment. Especially since Akane was, more or less, his master right now.

Whether she knew it or not.

The thought ate at him, making him angry. He'd been tempted almost beyond bearing to simply tip his wing sideways and dump her in the sea, but he didn't dare test the spell that bound them just yet. What if he were obliged to rescue her again?

It was important that she NOT realize she could command him. Handing over control of the situation to her was not an option Ranma even wanted to consider. He simply couldn't permit it.

Thoughts of the bumbling apprentice magician that had trapped him in this dilemma made Ranma rage inwardly. Yet there was nothing he could do about it. His hands clenched and unclenched as he fought his fury.

Akane was looking askance at him.

"We'll have to make our way there by foot." He carried no gold, and his magic was running dangerously low. He'd expended enough power just flying to the mainland.

"Perhaps we can hire a carriage or something," Akane suggested brightly.

Ranma stared at her. "Which part of  'on foot' don't you understand?" he asked.

"On foot?" Akane repeated. "But that could take…an hour!" She paused. "I've never walked that long before."

The apprentice continued to stare, disbelief stamped on his features. He couldn't believe the depth of her naiveté.

"It will take," he ground out, "three days!"

"Three days?!" Akane couldn't even imagine what that would be like. She tried to imagine walking and walking for three days. No, she couldn't see it.

"Are you sure you can't work some magic?" she asked hopefully, and quailed at Ranma's thunderous expression.

"I cannot repeat a type of spell once I've sustained it for a while," he growled. "Don't you know anything? The hawk spell looked easy, but it's one of the hardest spells there are." If only his water dragon had come when he'd sent out the mental call, but she was nowhere to be found. Then again, Ranma didn't think Akane would relish seeing his pet after the dragon had destroyed her ship.

"Three days," Akane said, testing the sound on her tongue. Well, at least there were no scolding tutors or ladies-in-waiting to tell her that princesses did not create calluses on their pretty feet by walking too much. 

She shrugged. 

After all, she had to get home somehow.

************

At first, Akane enjoyed the walk. The sandy beach had eventually given way to a grassy plain, and they were now following a rough path that led deeper into the forest. She had never been in this part of Nerima. It seemed rather wilder and woodier than the parts she'd been exposed to. The grass was not cut neatly, but rather grew thickly on either side of the path. Wild flowers grew sparsely here and there. Plants and bushes Akane didn't know cropped up now and again. 

The trees grew more thickly, until the duo was enveloped in a vibrant green world of chirping insects and the rustle of birds and animals in the undergrowth.

Despite the interesting landscape, Akane kept looking back at Ranma as he walked in front of her. She'd never met anyone like him before. He always seemed angry, and at first he'd walked with a jerky motion that made his long braid bounce. Then he had settled into the smooth, quiet gait of a hunter. 

She knew she ought to be mad at him, and she was. He'd humiliated her and abused her, yet he'd done it so emotionlessly that she didn't know quite what to make of him. He was like some wild creature, a tiger perhaps that mauled amorally. A mystery.

So she studied him.

Ranma could feel the princess staring holes into his back. He could tell exactly when she was looking at him. He could feel it when her gaze moved away to their surroundings, and then he knew when it cut back to him. 

He wondered what she was thinking and then decided that he didn't care. All he wanted to do was reach the palace and wring Mousse's neck until the magician coughed up the antidote to the spell. Without the antidote, things would get a lot hairier for him in a hurry.

He wondered if Akane might attack him from behind.

No, she was too timid to attempt such a thing. She looked so small and fragile. Did she know how feminine she looked in that semi-transparent dress? He could see the line of her slim thigh with every step she took. Not that he cared. 

But she alone held the power to let him do magic.

What a dilemma.

It was in his best interest to get to the palace as soon as possible, find that apprentice…Mousse...and make him recant the spell.

Ranma ignored the princess and concentrated on plotting out their route. He had seen the palace from the air as well, and was making towards it in as straight a line as possible. 

He was more familiar with the terrain than Akane was, however, and he knew he'd need his magic if they were to get to the palace unharmed.

************

"What's this?" Akane asked.

Ranma continued without a backward glance.

"It's a shrine." His tone was even. "Keep walking."

The shrine sat in the middle of the road, old and weathered. Carved from flinty rock, it was about three feet high, in the shape of three cupolas, one stacked above the other, so that the topmost one was the smallest. Despite its obvious age and isolated location, the shrine was free of any plants or dirt.

"To whom?" Akane asked, her interest mildly piqued. They'd been walking forever. The hem of her translucent skirts was getting torn and muddy and her thin sandals were not meant to be walked in. Any excuse to stop looked good to her.

"Don't think about it. Just keep walking," Ranma replied in the tone Kulloden used on him to indicate a subject was closed.

Akane stopped completely.

"Trust a female to be contrary," Ranma muttered. "She's more like Shampoo than I would have guessed."

"What is it? I just want to know. It looks so very odd," Akane said, walking around the shrine, examining it from all sides. She placed her palm against the stone.

"Don't touch it!" Ranma snapped with such force that Akane jumped and yanked her hand back, cradling it to her bosom as though Ranma's voice had really been a whip on her fingers.

He looked furious, his blue eyes alight with anger.

"Why can't you ever do as you're told?" he demanded, advancing on her like a demon from one of the stories her nurse used to tell her. 

Akane backed away until she ran out of road, and heedless of her steps, she retreated onto the grassy slope on the roadside, lost her balance and began windmilling her arms desperately.

Ranma caught her upper arms before she fell. He yanked her close, his snapping blue eyes merely inches away. Akane's heartbeat thudded in her breast.

"When I give you an order, you'd better jump to it," he said, his breath warm against her cheek. "You're completely helpless in these woods, and without me, you'll perish before the day's end. It's best you remember that, princess!"

Akane stared at him like a deer caught in the hunter's trap. She gave a half-hearted tug to free herself, but the motion only angered Ranma more.

"You're free when I say you're free," he said, pulling her closer so that her soft body was crushed against him.

"Tsk tsk, my lord, the lady meant no harm," a smooth voice said from the edge of the road.

Both Ranma and Akane swiveled their heads to see a young girl approaching them. She was lovely. Her eyes were slanted and green. Her hair was long, dark and coiled in a shining loop around her head. A silky ribbon of hair flowed down over one shoulder to her waist. She wore deep green robes of a fine material.

Akane stared at her hair enviously, sorely missing her own chopped locks. The girl's hair indicated that she was a noblewoman of some kind. Akane ought to know her, but she'd never met her before.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked suspiciously, still clutching Akane to him.

"You may call me Rouge," the girl replied. "You look weary, travelers. Would you not like food and drink, and perhaps- eep!" She jumped back as Akane latched onto her, having detached herself from Ranma with unnatural speed.

"Food! Did you say…food?" She shook Rouge slightly, her eyes wide with hope.

"Akane…" Ranma began, slightly bewildered.

"Quiet!" Akane ordered with the first imperial air Ranma had seen about her. "I'm hungry!"

"Certainly I will feed on you...I mean, feed you," Rouge coughed to cover up her slip of the tongue. She'd never met such an enthusiastic girl before. "I have all manner of food…roast peahen, fruits, rice…"

Akane reached up and wiped away the start of unladylike drool.

"Please," she moaned. "I'm so hungry!"

"Of course. This way,…?" Rouge stared at her questioningly.

"Akane."

"This way, Akane. And…?"

Ranma just glared and stalked past them. He'd let Akane eat, but then they were on their way.

********

Rouge's house was beautiful, with creamy white walls, imported glass and marble floors. She led them to a low table and seated them.

"What a beautiful place!" Akane exclaimed looking about, determined to fulfill her duties as a guest at least.

"Thank you. My grandmother built it and I've tried to add to its beauty." Rouge clapped her hands. Immediately, servants bearing large metal platters and covered bowls walked out and placed the dishes on the table. Some came around and washed Akane's hands, but her attention was completely on the dishes. Servants took off the covers and steam wafted from the dishes, revealing roast fowl, cooked vegetables and other delicacies. 

Akane, swallowing, focused so much of her attention on not falling on the meal like an animal that she didn't wonder how such dishes had been produced here in the jungle. She was quite used to being served, eating well, and not worrying about where her meals came from. In fact, she knew no other way. 

Ranma, however, sat and stared as the servants served him and Akane. Rouge, he noticed, did not eat.

"My lord," she said, caressing his arm. "You are not hungry?"

"Neither are you," he pointed out.

She laughed a tinkling laugh, a sound that sent chills down Ranma's spine.

"It would be very rude of me to eat before my guests had a chance to dine." She sent him a sultry glance from beneath her sweeping lashes, an invitation that was plain to see. Her fingers ran up his arm and squeezed his shoulder gently.

He tensed, then deliberately relaxed. He adopted a sheepish mien.

"Well, I didn't want to be rude." He glanced pointedly at Akane, who was delicately gnawing on a chicken bone. He returned his attention to his plate, heaped with delicacies.

Rouge watched avidly as Ranma began to eat.

"It's quite good," he said around a mouthful of meat.

"One tries what one can." Their hostess smiled.

She struck up a conversation with Akane, all the while sending Ranma steamy looks on the side. Akane didn't notice at all.

"That was wonderful!" Akane politely hid a tiny burp behind her hand. "Thank you."

Rouge airily waved away the gratitude with a small hand.

"Now you must sleep," she said. "You're both very tired. I have had rooms prepared for you."

Akane sent a pleading glance to Ranma, expecting opposition. She was surprised when Ranma smiled and looked at Rouge.

"We'll be happy to accept." He let his gaze roam lightly over Rouge's prettily clad form.

Rouge clapped her hands.

"Wonderful! I love having guests!"

She shepherded a tired Akane off to her room, leaving Ranma to be escorted by servants to his room.

Akane followed Rouge, admiring her clothing and bearing.

"I don't think I'm aware of your house, my lady," she said, wondering which of the noble houses Rouge would lay claim to.

Her hostess glanced around.

"It's…a long story." A sad look crossed Rouge's face, and she averted her eyes.

Oops! Akane's hand flew to her mouth, and she berated herself for her rude question. Perhaps Rouge was some sort of love child of one of the nobility, and they had stashed her here, away from the city, to conceal their shame. How awful!

She decided to invite Rouge to the palace as soon as she herself got back.

"How did you come to be traveling with Ranma?" Rouge looked openly curious, but Akane had been trained in the palace to never reveal what she didn't need to. Yet Rouge had been kind to her.

"He's escorting me home." Many noblewomen were escorted by soldiers, but they always had maidservants with them. Thankfully, Rouge didn't ask about that. But her next comment threw Akane for a loop.

"So then I suppose he's not your lover."

"Wha….?" Akane's eyes whirled in shock.

Rouge laughed.

"Oh, never mind. Silly me." Rouge could tell such a thought had never even entered the girl's head. What an innocent. Well, it didn't matter. It would be such a waste to let a gorgeous specimen such as Ranma go to waste.

"Here we are." She flung open the door to a richly appointed chamber, with a fire glowing in the hearth.

"Oh!" Akane entered the room in a trance, feeling as though she was already home. A satin nightgown lay draped over the back of a stuffed chair. When she reached it, she fingered the material, looking at her own bedraggled condition.

"Don't worry, I've ordered a bath for you." Rouge's voice faded as Akane's hostess disappeared down the hallway.

Akane wanted to weep with gratitude.

*********

Rouge jiggled the doorknob of Ranma's room. It was locked.

"Ranma?" she called in her most seductive tone. "Are you there?" He'd better be.

"He's in the privy, my lady." A servant appeared beside her silently. "Apparently, something he ate didn't agree with him. He had…an unpleasant reaction."

"No!" Rouge stamped her small, delicately-shod foot. "I want him now!"

The servant backed away nervously.

Rouge pouted.

"Bring me some water!"

*********

Akane was fast asleep and dreaming. She knew it was a dream because she was floating next to a giant, purple lizard. Then again, the last time she thought something was a dream, it had been real. The giant lizard looked friendly and fluffy, until it swung around and began to choke her with its claws.

Akane opened her eyes and found a six-armed demon trying to strangle her. All six of its hands were around her neck and doing a fair job of choking her. Already Akane could see spots in her vision. It was the oddest feeling.

"Urk…" She struggled, fear roiling in her belly as the glowing red eyes of the demon grew closer.

"Stop fighting, human. There's no one here to rescue you!"

"R…Rouge?" Akane recognized the voice but not the face. This Rouge looked so different. She had _fangs_, for heaven's sake. Confusion reigned. "But I thought you were a noblewoman!"

"Now did I say that?"

"You said…it was a long story!"

"To make it short, I'm not."

"But you just fed me! Why…are you trying… to kill me?" She tugged at the half-a-dozen hands.

"I just want you to return the favour!" The demon licked her lips.

"You want...to...EAT ME?!"

Rouge rolled her eyes.

"You're remarkably dense!"

"Aaaaaaaaagh!"

"Who do you think is going to rescue you in the middle of the forest? Ranma's sick and out of the way!" Rouge smirked down at her struggling prey.

****************************************************************************

It's a bit of a cliffhanger, but hey it happens! :) Click and review, good people!


	4. Demon's kiss

DISCLAIMER: No character here belongs to me, but to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Ranma shot up in bed, clutching his throat with both hands as he fought for breath. The night was silent around him, despite the rapid drumming of his heart and the labored working of his lungs, and only the drip-drip of the water clock at his bedside interrupted the quiet. 

"What…the hell?!" He cast one wild glance around his room, still choking and coughing. He breathed deeply, struggling to being himself under control. Control was one of the first things he'd leanred under Kulloden, a lesson painfully learned. Slowly, his breathing slowed. "Oh, no! I fell asleep!" He swept aside the bedcovers hastily and got out of bed, not bothering to don a night shirt. His loose drawstring trousers would have to do.

Ranma had eaten Rouge's food and pretended to be sick to escape her 'ministrations', hoping that Rouge would then focus on Akane. And if the pressure at his throat was any indication, his ploy had worked and Akane was already in a great deal of trouble.

Too bad he'd fallen asleep while waiting. Cursing, Ranma darted into the hallway where a cool breeze tickled his bare chest. He let the geas pull him in Akane's direction. At least the damn thing was useful for SOMEthing.

 When he finally stood outside Akane's room, the silence from within seemed ominous.

He pushed open the door to see Rouge, or a six-armed version of her, crouched over Akane in the bed, choking the life out of her.

"If only my spells would work!" Ranma muttered uselessly under his breath. He sighed. He almost missed Shampoo and their brawls. They were easy compared to THIS. He watched as Akane's skin took on an unhealthy blue tinge, and was surprised to feel himself getting angry. Akane was his charge, not voluntarily, true, but what gave some forest demon the right to maul her as though he, Ranma, didn't even pose a problem!  

He strode forward and grabbed Rouge by the nape of her neck.

"Aaagh! What are you doing? Let me go!!"

 The tight grip around Akane's neck suddenly loosened. Opening her eyes, she watched dazedly as Rouge, her many arms still reaching for Akane, was somehow picked up and pulled away from her. The demoness' yellow eyes were wide with surprise, and then they narrowed in fury.

"Who DARES…?" She began, but her words were cut off as she was flung across the room to smash into the large window, rattling its panes.

"Ranma?" Akane sat up and Rouge rolled to her side. Both stared up at the bare-chested boy standing with arms akimbo at the foot of Akane's bed.

Akane let out a sigh of relief. Rouge let out a sigh of appreciation as she ran her topaz eyes over Ranma's bare torso.  She _knew _those muscles she'd felt were real! How she wished she had time for a little hanky-panky. Yet Ranma didn't look pleased at all, and in her demon from, she was hungrier for food than for anything else.

"How dare you interfere in my dinner?" she demanded, picking herself off the floor.

"I dare when your dinner happens to be my traveling companion," Ranma chided, his downcast lashes hiding his anger. "Rouge, these aren't the actions of a good hostess."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm no longer your good hostess!" Rouge champed her fangs against her lips.

"Yes, what happened to you?" Ranma had an inkling, but…

"Jusenkyou." Ranma's gaze shot up, fastened on Rouge like the claws of a hawk, demanding answers. One single word spoken between clenched teeth had confirmed Ranma's worst fears and raised more questions. Jusenkyou had been lost for some time now. How had this girl had access to it? And more importantly, her very identity was now in question.

Rouge blanched at the burning demand of that gaze.  Then Ranma remembered Akane. No need for her to know more than she had to. With difficulty, he tore his gaze away and Rouge unconsciously released the breath she was holding.

"Ah," he said. "I see." 

"What's Jusenkyou?" Akane asked, trying to ignore Ranma's bare, muscled chest and trim waist. Ladies didn't notice such things.

Rouge's attention slid back to her prey.

"I wouldn't eat her if I were you," Ranma murmured, forcing himself to examine his nails nonchalantly.

Rouge swung her head suspiciously.

"Why not?"

Ranma looked around for a place to buff his nails but he could hardly do it on his pants. He looked up."She's the crown princess."

Rouge simply stared at him, her yellow eyes unblinking. Then she threw back her head and laughed.

"Are you trying to insult my intelligence? Despite how I look, I can still think; I have eyes, and she's no princess! What's a princess doing wandering around the forest anyway?"

Ranma drew breath to speak, but she continued over his head.

"Yes, the crown princess WAS kidnapped, but we heard news that she was saved right away! Those kidnappers obviously weren't up to snuff when it came to dealing with the king's soldiers!"

Ranma frowned at this and tossed Akane a glance, to see her holding back a smile. The princess was unaware of any tension in the room, he realized, but she'd been on the verge of being eaten just a few minutes ago. He wanted to wipe the smile off her face.

"What are YOU laughing at?" he snapped. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess."

The twinkle disappeared from Akane's pretty brown eyes as she digested this statement. Her back snapped straight at the unfairness of it.

"Excuse me!" She snapped back with rare ire. "I can hardly apologize for my existence!" "Besides," she pointed out, "I didn't ask for you to come into my life and kidnap me from my father's very own ship!"

"Did you notice that Rouge is about to eat you alive?" Her companion looked exasperated. At least that was better than the anger she'd seen earlier in his eyes, Akane thought.

"Yes, about that…Look…Rouge," Akane slowly edged out of bed, keeping one eye on the predator and one on Ranma, who looked like he wanted to strange her himself. "This is all a big misunderstanding, isn't it? I know you didn't REALLY mean to try to kill me."

"Then what do you think she was trying to do?" Ranma's tone betrayed only mild curiosity.

"Obviously…." Akane paused. "Obviously, she was sleepwalking."

"Sleepwalking?!" Was his companion blind? Ranma wondered if this was how Akane's sheltered upbringing was going to destroy her. 

"Yes!" Akane pronounced desperately. "She…obviously undergoes some sort of unfortunate transformation, and it makes her sleepwalk."

"I was wide awake!" Anger made Rouge's face even scarier.

"Of course!" Akane made a calming pat-pat motion in the air with her fingers. "Don't we all think that when we sleepwalk?"

"I'm cursed, you fool!" Rouge's twelve hands began to clench and her knuckles began to make odd crackling sounds as she flexed them. "Jusenkyou made me a demon and now I'm hungry."

Akane began backing up.

"Doesn't normal food help you?" she asked.

"Human flesh is the only thing that does it for me!"

"Okay, I've heard enough!" Ranma said sharply. He seized a carafe of water that stood on the table, warmed it with a brief spell and tossed the contents on Rouge. The demon disappeared, to be replaced by their drenched hostess. If only his magic had equal effect when it came to Akane, Ranma thought bitterly, cursing the geas that prevented it.

"What happened?" Akane was bewildered.

"Cold water triggers her curse." Ranma studied Rouge. "Hot water changes her back."

"Listen, Rouge," he said. "How particular are you about what you eat?"

"It has to be freshly dead, it has to be human," Rouge replied, ticking off on her fingers.

"Isn't there anything that stops you from eating humans?"

Rouge paused to give that some thought.

"Well, of course, being cured would help," she said slowly. "But Jusenkyou magic is lost and only a very strong magician can help me now."

 "We can help you, can't we, Ranma?" Akane said. "Lord Happosai is the court magician. My father trusts him with everything magical. He's away right now, but he'll be back at the palace soon, and he can help you find a cure. Ranma, let's help her."

Ranma sighed when he felt the weight of compulsion settle on him. Damn geas. HE had better things to do with his time than fight off a demon on their journey.

"Aren't you afraid Rouge will transform and eat you?" he asked Akane.

"Yes, of course, but Rouge is a citizen of this kingdom. It's my duty to help her." Akane's face shone with the zeal of _noblesse oblige_. 

"Oh, thank you!" Rouge smiled, her long, sharp teeth showing. "You need not fear. I have a soap that will allay the effect of water for a few days. However, I must make it from scratch. That may take me a few days. You may travel ahead of me. I'll catch up."

Ranma and Akane watched Rouge leave the room, and then looked at each other.

Akane dropped her eyes. 

"Thank you, Ranma, for saving my life." She raised her eyes again. "How did you know I was in danger?"

"I heard you screaming, of course," he replied shortly. "You're a complete idiot, you know."

Akane bowed her head, used to being bullied by her cousin and ladies-in-waiting who cared little about a young princess who couldn't even inherit the throne, and fawned mostly on Kunou, the crown prince.

Ranma found the sight of her bent head paradoxically provoking. He growled, and came to stand in front of her.

"Trusting Rouge was really stupid," he goaded. "If I hadn't heard you, you'd be demon food by now!"

He watched as Akane clenched her small hands into fists, but she remained silent.

He grabbed her shoulders.

"Don't you have anything to say?" he demanded, surprised to feel how fragile her bones were beneath his fingers.

She looked up, furious. 

"What do you want me to say?" Her large brown eyes pinned him. "It was nice to MEET a kindly stranger at all! Heaven knows, you certainly aren't one!"

"At least I won't kill you!" A brief stab of guilt hit him when he remembered how he'd nearly left her for dead beneath the sea. To quiet it, and because he couldn't help himself, he leaned down and kissed her.

Akane stood stunned, feeling as though this were just another strange occurrence in a series of strange occurrences in her life lately. She accepted it as passively as she had accepted the rest. But as Ranma continued to kiss her, enfolding her in his arms, a germ of self-assertion began to grow in her. What right did any of them have to manhandle her as they felt like it? She was a princess, and she wasn't going to be eaten and she wasn't going to be kissed by a cruel sorcerer's apprentice just because he felt like it, no matter if he had beautiful grey-blue eyes and a handsome face!

She placed her hands between them and pushed. Ranma, caught off balance, stumbled and released her. Ranma blinked once, still savoring the fresh berry taste of her on his lips. His eyes focused, and he frowned. It wasn't like him to lose his prized control, yet he couldn't bring himself to regret it. When in doubt, leave the scene of battle.

"Be ready in an hour." He turned his back on her. "We're leaving."

Akane watched him go with confused eyes, and her fingers came up to touch her bruised lips.

************************

This was a shortish chapter, even though it took forever to write. I just realized halfway through the chapter that I had to set up some things here, and I was trying to figure out what they were. 

Thanks, apie, for pushing me over the edge to finally get this chapter done by throwing my own words back at me!


	5. Road Rage

**Leina** – Does that mean you liked it?

** Erain** -  I'm glad you like my Aus. I love them too. Well, hope you're happy, here's another chappie.

**apie** – Hey, don't apologize! Now I have 3 chapters out, and that's always good! :) I love evil Ranma too, it's just hard to work him in there sometimes!

**Oyuki** – Hey, hope you're still reading. :) Thanks.

**R Junkie** – Making Akane 'not meek' is taking longer than I thought. But by the end of this chapter, you should see a change. Let me know what you think! :) And yes, this chapter IS a bit longer. Aren't I a nice wish-fulfilling writer? Hehe

**DISCLAIMER: Ranma and co. don't belong to me.**

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There was a loud explosion.

Smoke, thick, grey and roiling, swirled up from the broken beaker lying on its side and swelled into the small stone room, setting the inhabitants to coughing.

"Oh my, Master Mousse!" The tall, brown-eyed maid waved frantically in front of her face with her cleaning rag, trying to disperse the noxious fumes. "Please stop or you will surely blow the palace up, and then what would Master Happosai say?"

The thin figure on the bench coughed and huddled deeper into his robe. His long, shining dark hair hid his face from view.

"Don't worry, Kasumi," he mumbled. "I'll never have that much power."

"It's not how much power you have, it's how you use it," the maid replied. "So my father used to say."

The apprentice looked up.

"That sounds like an odd thing for him to say." His chin on his fist, Mousse watched with tired eyes as Kasumi clean up the table. "What does your father do for a living?"

The hand mopping the tabletop stopped briefly, then started again, wiping wide, drying circles on the wood.

"He was a farmer," Kasumi said. "He's gone now."

Mousse felt ashamed, as though he'd been prying.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, sir." Her hand scrubbed determinedly at a stubborn spot. Mousse could have told her she was wasting her time. The table held the marks of too many of his failed magical experiments.

Instead he stood, leaving Kasumi to clean. Perhaps some fresh air would clear his head and refresh him. He left the room, striding down the low hallway that always made him claustrophobic. He never understood why the king gave the court magician such cramped quarters to work in. Happosai never complained, but then more often than not, he was out in the kingdom, working some magic or the other.

Eventually, the hallway grew wider, and fresh air blew some of the stink of chemicals away. Mousse turned the secret corner that led out into the gardens, and emerged from the shrubs into the garden of ponds. The lilies in the ponds stirred slightly as a soft breeze blew over them, but Mousse didn't see them.

"Why did he even take me in as his apprentice?" Mousse looked down at his hands, the long fingers and square palms, remembering the shot of green light that had emerged from his hands, killing the evil sorcerer's apprentice up in the mountains.

Hardly anyone remembered that, though. They remembered Kunou. 

Prince Kunou was the one who had brought back Princess Akane safe on his warhorse. Pshaw, what had the prince done, anyway? Waved his sword about a few times, while Mousse and the soldiers did all the work. Yet there he was, famous, being touted by all the ladies at court as the bravest of them all. Even Akane seemed to listen to Kunou more these days, though Mousse had never thought she had any great affection for him.

As though he had conjured her up with his thoughts, Akane came into sight, in the garden. Dressed in loose trousers and a tunic cinched to her slim waist, she walked over the bridge that spanned the largest of the ponds, coming closer to him. Yet she hadn't seen him. She passed the statue of the three intertwined bronze trout, and stopped near the pond of koi, touching her knee-length black hair gathered into two brass rings, one at shoulder height and one near her waist.

Mousse watched with some curiosity as she took up a warrior stance. He watched with growing confusion as she moved through a series of forms, most of which he didn't recognize. Yet he knew the art itself.

Akane still hadn't seen him, and he watched, entranced, as her hair moved through the wind as she slowly changed positions, flowing through them like water.

She must have heard something then, because she stopped, and looked straight at him. Her eyes widened, and her arms suddenly grew clumsy.

Mousse took a step forward, so it wouldn't look like he was hiding in the fragrant flowers behind him.

"I'm sorry I startled you. I was just out for a breath of fresh air." 

She continued to stare at him, with wide brown eyes the colour of sherry. He'd never noticed that before. Well, he'd never really been this close to her before, despite living in the same palace as her.

"Mousse."  She said his name as though it was unfamiliar on her lips. Slowly she relaxed. "It's all right. I wanted some air, too."

Shampoo watched Mousse warily out of her transformed eyes, remembering him from the raid in Kulloden's cavern. She hadn't seen the magician since then. She'd been too busy trying to settle into court life. She hadn't even had time to do what she'd come here to do. The King, the Queen, Kunou- all of them kept her too close, as though they were afraid she might disappear yet again. 

And as for Akane's ladies-in-waiting, after meeting those bitches, Shampoo could almost find it in her to feel sorry for the princess. Well, not really, for hadn't Akane slept in sheets of softest satin and drank from a cup of porcelain while she, Shampoo, had worn ragged clothes and slept in the dust of Kulloden's cavern until she learned to spell herself a blanket?

She recalled her first meeting with the ladies-in-waiting.

"Princess Akane! You're back!" they'd chorused when Kunou brought her back to her room wrapped in his cloak. They swarmed around her, cooing and whispering, and Shampoo stayed silent, taking it all in, taking in the massive bed, the soft carpets, the gleaming diamond-shaped windows, and envy ate at her.

Once they'd settled her in, almost to the woman they turned to Kunou, speaking to him in breathless whispers, caressing his arm, examining for wounds with tender concern. Kunou let them, as Shampoo supposed was his right.

As soon as he left, however, they turned on her.

"Akane, don't you know what trouble you've caused?" One lady with short, brown hair dressed in a pale pink gown demanded, pointing a paper fan at her. Shampoo noticed she had dropped the honorific, but wasn't sure whether that was proper procedure or not. "Prince Kunou was frantic while you were gone! How can you be so irresponsible?"

The lady sat heavily at the edge of the bed and glared at Shampoo. She snapped her fan shut and tapped the end against Shampoo's arm, then leaned forward as though expecting a response.

Shampoo found herself in the odd position of defending Akane.

"I hardly had a choice," she pointed out. "The sorcerer's apprentice appeared with a sea-serpent and crushed the ship into matchwood."

"That's not what Mariko's talking about, you silly goose!" Another of the women exclaimed. "You should never have left on that voyage in the first place! This is what happens to foolish princesses who think they can change the order of things."

As Shampoo didn't have a clear idea about what Akane had been doing on the ship in the first place, or where she had been coming from, she thought it best to keep silent. The pink-gowned lady, Mariko, took that as a signal to continue.

"You cannot expect us to wait on such a spoiled princess!" Mariko stood, and lightly straightened out a non-existent wrinkle in her dress. "We'll send Ukyou in to see you to bed. I know we promised to accompany you to the ---- tomorrow, but I think it's best for you to spend a day reflecting on your actions!

Come, ladies!" She sailed off, the other women grouping behind her like ducks waddling off t the pond.

Shampoo watched them go with bemusement. No sooner had then door closed behind them than it opened again, and a maid with a long, brown ponytail hurried into the room.

"Princess Akane!" She rushed forward and knelt before Shampoo. "Are you all right? We were so worried about you!"

"Really?" Shampoo couldn't help glancing at the door.

"Oh, them!" Ukyou darted an angry glance behind her. "Ignore them my lady. You know if Mariko wasn't your distant cousin she would never have become your lady-in-waiting.

Now hurry, my lady, we must get you bathed and changed before Madame St. Paul comes to check on you. Are you truly all right, my lady?"

"Of course, Ukyou," Shampoo said with a much assurance as possible, strangely uncomfortable with looking the friendly maid in the eyes. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day, and…I'm glad to be home. It was a long journey."

Ukyou looked puzzled.

"You were only gone for a week," she said, leading Shampoo into the marble bathing chamber.

"Ah, yes, I meant,it felt longer." Shampoo tried to cover her mistake.

"But you told me you couldn't wait to leave, before you left."

"Yes, but once I was on the ship, it was different." Shampoo silently cursed her tongue and stepped into the steaming bath before she could give herself away.

The mysterious Madame St. Paul had never shown up, and this morning Shampoo had decided to escape from her rooms to have some time alone, and the best way for that to practice her magic.

And here was Mousse. You'd think a girl could find some privacy in such a big palace. Yet, the boy magician didn't look so good. His white robe had dark smudges on it, and his face and hands were grey.

"What happened to your clothes?" she asked.

Mousse felt a tide of blood rush into his cheeks.

"One of my…my magical experiments failed."

Unexpectedly, the princess burst into laughter that stung him to the quick. She saw his face.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean insult." Her eyes danced with laughter and she waved her hands. "I merely remember a time when I myself….have had accidents. Magic is not an easy art, I suppose, though it looks like it."

"You were using the martial form of magic just now." Mousse's curiousity returned.

The princess stopped laughing.

"I was taught the rudiments of it when I was away. I…didn't want to lose the knowledge, so I came out here to practice." She came closer, was now just a few feet away. "What were you working on?"

"I was hoping to create a shadow to protect you, princess. Nothing that would harm you, but something that would let others know you are in trouble, perhaps even where to search for you."

Shampoo knew the spell. When she was 11, she had painstakingly put the ingredients together to play a prank on Ranma. Her fellow apprentice hadn't gone near water for a week after that, until finally Kulloden ordered him to bathe or be drowned rather than spread his stench. She grinned at the memory.

Mousse thought she was laughing at him again, and bowed, and made to leave.

"I'm not laughing at you, silly!" The princess said, coming even closer. She was close enough now to have heard him if he'd whispered loudly. She looked back at the palace, then at him. "Are you wearing your glasses?"

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Ranma and Akane were well on the road from Rouge's palace when disaster struck. They'd been walking for over an hour in the pre-dawn darkness, and Akane spent most of that time throwing covert glances at Ranma and the rest of it mulling over the peripatetic manner of their journey. She hoped they reached the palace sooner than later, because traveling with a sorcerer's apprentice was getting on her nerves.

Why, he'd even been inscrutable when he kissed her. More so then than ever! Akane's nurse, the terrifying Madame St. Paul, had always warned the princess about what happened to young maidens left alone with strange men. In a word, they got themselves ravished.

Ravished. Yes, she'd certainly felt ravished when Ranma's lips had….she shut her eyes, but fevered images popped into her head, and she immediately opened them again. The forest was loud around her in the dark. All sorts of chirping and croaking noises could be heard. The road curved around bushes and over small hillocks, making it hard to see farther than a few yards.

Akane felt a strange emotion bubbling up within her gut, something she hardly recognized. Anger. It was such a rare emotion that it surprised her. Anger had been browbeaten out of her at a young age. But Ranma hadn't said a word to her since they got started. In fact, he was very busy not saying a word, Akane thought, watching him. She didn't understand why he'd relented in bringing her along to the palace. After all, his master had stolen her in the first place.

For the first time, Akane's shell-shocked mind began to come up with questions. Why HAD they kidnapped her? It obviously had something to do with Shampoo. Akane's single most horrifying moment had been watching the purple-haired virago turn magically into her, Akane, and then be rescued by Kunou! No doubt by now, Shampoo was happily ensconced in the palace as Princess Akane. Ranma knew that. So then why would he allow her, Akane, to come to the palace with him, reveal their duplicity, and wreck their plans? Akane wondered what had happened to Ranma's master.

Maybe it all had something to do with Mousse. Ranma apparently wanted to find him, because Mousse had somehow bound Ranma. But how? Akane racked her brain.

Thus, the princess and the apprentice were both occupied when trouble came upon them around a corner.

"Why, lookee here, Ollie, if t'isn't a pretty young maid all by her lonesome!"

Akane stopped, startled by the appearance of two scruffy, thick men. They looked the sort that she'd seen in the dungeons once, when Madame St. Paul had decided to scare her by showing hr exactly what happened to naughty princesses.

"It's our lucky day, Jesse!" the other man said, eyeing her in a distasteful manner.

"Hello, sweetpuss," the first man said, grinning at her. He was straw-haired, with a bulbous nose and a dirty face, with two small blue eyes set in them. "Out fer a stroll, are ye?"

"G-Good day, sirs," Akane replied, sketching a pretty curtsey and trying to sidle past them. They were ignoring Ranma completely, she saw. She didn't understand how. Ranma seemed to command attention somehow, wherever he was.

"My, whut pretty manners," the second man guffawed. He was dark-haired, leaner and even meaner looking than his companion. Both of them had swords tucked into their belts as well.

"If you'll excuse us," Akane said, still trying to sidle past.

"There's no 'urry," Straw-hair, or Jesse, said.

"Aye, it's a lovely day," said Ollie. "Why'nt you spend a bit of it with us?"

"The lady's with me," Ranma said impatiently. Ruffians like this really weren't worth his time, and were only holding him up.

They ignored him. Jesse put a meaty hand on Akane's shoulder, surprised by the slimness of it.

"She's just a bit of a thing, Ollie," he said. "Dunno as 'ow she'll keep me warm…"

"Ah, I like 'em small," Ollie said, baring his teeth.

Akane gasped, her eyes going to Ranma. Choose between the lesser of two evils, she thought.

"Look, I said…!" Ranma reached out to pull Jesse's arm off Akane, and his fingers simply passed through the beefy arm. 

In shock, Ranma passed his hand back and forth through Jesse's arm. He touched Akane. Yes, he could still touch her, but why couldn't he touch the men?

"Can you see me?" He waved his hand in front of Ollie's face, but the man's eyes never wavered from Akane.

"Ranma, what have you done?" Akane groaned, her blood chilling as she realized that she was at the mercy of these men. Ranma was invisible to them.

Ranma growled with frustration. Mousse's magic was seriously screwing with him.

Ollie, tired of waiting, grabbed Akane's arm and began to pull her to him. She ignored him, her eyes wide on Ranma, waiting for him to save her.

"Do something, you idiot!" Ranma ranted. "Run!"

"They've caught me!" she replied, struggling.

"Who she talkin' to?" Jesse inquired.

"Hit them! Kick them!" Ranma yelled. Seeing her struggling ineffectually, he tried to grab a tree branch. No luck. Akane was the only thing he could grab.

Akane.

He put his arms around her waist and pulled.

"Ow!" Akane yelled.

"Garn, she's stronger than she looks!" Ollie exclaimed, feeling Akane being wrenched away.

The two men pulled harder, and Ranma yanked too, his arms clamped around Akane.

Akane shrieked. She was getting torn in half! Neither side seemed ready to give way.

Ranma abruptly released her, sending her tumbling into Ollie's arms. The beefy man caught her with a grin.

"Ah, a bit more friendly-like, that's what we want, eh?"

Akane screamed, trying to pull Jesse's hand away from where he was raising her skirt. She felt Ollie's hand on her breast, his hot breath on her neck.

"Ranma!"

"Akane, listen to me. I can't help you." Ranma could feel the binding tugging at him, but it wasn't urgent. Apparently the binding might not let her die, but it didn't count rape as great bodily harm.

The only way she could escape was if he asked for permission to use his magic. And then she'd know about the geas.

He'd be at her mercy.

Ranma folded his arms and scowled down at the scene before him. The two men had Akane on the ground now, pawing her vigorously. Her dress was torn in places. She was fighting more now, but it was too little too late. She should have run when she first saw them. He should have warned her, but he'd had no idea he was invisible to everyone but her.

One of the men took hold of her chopped hair and brutally pulled her head back, causing the pale column of her neck to arch in pain. He lowered his head to her.

Ranma turned his back, an odd feeling growing in him. It was like sharp red thorns blossoming in the back of his brain, reaching up to cloud his vision with crimson. Hot rage welled up, shooting like stabbing claws through his chest.

He whirled around.

"Princess! Do you want me to use magic to save you?" he demanded.

"Yes!" came a voice.

"Oh, she wants it, Ollie!" Jesse crowed.

"No!"

Ranma cupped his hands, and a sphere of blue formed there. But he couldn't release it.

"Dammit!" Why didn't it work? He'd asked her permission!

Ranma swore. The only reason he couldn't call his magic was because of the extent of harm he planned to cause with it. The more powerful the magic was, the more specific he would need to be.

"Princess! Do you want me to kill these men for you?"

Silence. Akane lay stunned. Was it kill or be killed?

"Princess!"

Ranma formed the blue sphere again, cupping it in his hands, then drew it out until it formed a bow. He gathered energy in his palm, closed his fingers around it, drew his fist back, past his ear, so that he aimed a blue arrow of energy at Akane's assailants.

"Princess, make your choice!" he shouted, glaring at her even as every muscle in him strained to release the arrow.

"But…" She shoved a meaty hand away from her bodice, and thought frantically. Why was it _her_ choice?

"Do you want me to kill them? Yes or no?"

Akane stared up at him. He hovered a few feet over them now covered in eldritch blue light, icy fury in his eyes, the muscles in his shoulders and arms straining to leash the energy until she released it. She. Akane. It really was up to her. For some inexplicable reason. And these two wretches deserved it! Righteous anger rose like a whirlwind inferno within Akane.

 "Yes!"

Ranma released the energy bolt, and it found its targets with ease, making a whining noise as it sped down the path Ranma had set for it. Blue light blinded Akane's vision and her attackers cried out in surprise and pain. Another arrow of energy hit them, and Akane rolled away.

When she stood, small aftershocks of blue light still imprinted themselves I her vision, and she shook her head to clear it.

The two men lay on their sides, burnt and silent. Slowly she walked towards them, bent and examined them with her eyes.

"They're dead." Ranma floated to the ground, the eldritch blue energy left him. He walked forward and wrapped his fingers around Akane's upper arm, more to see if he could touch her than to give comfort.

Akane shrugged his hand off and stood.

"Rouge would never have let those men touch her," she said in a low voice.

"Rouge is part-demon," Ranma pointed out.

"You needed my permission to attack them." Short blue-black strands covered Akane's eyes, but Ranma didn't like the introspective tone in her voice.

"I might have hurt you," he said.

"Since when have you cared about that?" She was still looking at the bodies so she was surprised when Ranma turned her about and frowned at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"You need me," she said slowly, looking up into his troubled gaze.

He set her down.

"Nonsense."

"You need me," she insisted. "That's why you couldn't leave me behind on the island. I thought you were just being kind."

"Fine." Ranma grabbed her shoulders, pushed her back until her back hit the trunk of a tree, pushed her until her soft skin ground into the bark.

"You are bound to me, understand? Mousse put a spell on us that backfired. Whatever he tried, the results were entirely different. Yes, I would have left you, but we can't be separated very far without one of us feeling it. I can't work magic on you without your permission. But…" He abruptly pulled her closer. "But do _not_ think this gives you any kind of power over me, understand?"

"That's why you're going to the palace," Akane breathed. "You don't really have any intention of letting me unmask Shampoo, do you?"

"None whatsoever," Ranma confirmed, creating a lead weight in Akane's chest. "But if we don't go to the palace, the geas will stay."

Akane stared, fear in her wide sherry-coloured eyes.

"Is that what you want?" His hot blue gaze burned into her as he conjured a small ball of glowing blue magic in his hand. "To be tied to me forever?" "No!""Well then." He released her, and she sank against the tree. "Let's go."

Akane straightened. Rouge wouldn't take this kind of treatment. She poked a finger under Ranma's nose and shook it.

"I'd like to say here that I'm going to try and defeat you and your girlfriend and your master, no matter what! I won't just be a pawn!" She shook with fury. "I'll get free of you and then there will be hell to pay!"

Ranma smiled at the princess' sudden transformation from a timid mouse into a tiny lioness. He suspected it was the shock.

"Do what you want," he said. "Just stay close."

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Okay, hope you guys are happy. I wish I was getting more reviews on this one, but fantasy never seems to be that popular in the Ranma fanfiction universe, or maybe I should write a sequel to Hord! :)


	6. Running the offense rated R

Well! The chapters are coming out fast, huh? :)

**Leina** – Sorcerer Staber Orphen! I'd never heard of this, but of course I had to look it up! Wow, a new anime to watch! :P 

**Moonlight-Miko** – Thanks, I always appreciate more reviews! :) The more the better!

**Oyuki** – Yup, you're so right! I have rediscovered pissed-off Akane! Lol…you know I actually have the first chapter of HorD 2 written out. But I'm still debating about posting it.

**Misha@ngel**– Glad you liked it. And so I updated!

**apie** – Hey, I wondered when you were going to review! Here ya go!

**KrissySW** – Thanks! That's good to know.

**AnnechanB** – Oops, did you think it was confusing? I've been trying to keep it simple, but I'll try harder.

**Jannine** – Thanks for the compliment! Hope I helped your sanity…hehe

**Chelsea** -  Hey, you can always check out my other fics, you now. :)

**Kaoru-chan6** – I totally agree with you about fantasy. I find regular Ranma much easier to write. One scene from this story just popped into my head, so then I had to write te whole thing. And yes, there is a Shampoo-Mousse pairing happening on the side…

**gala** – I know. Sad, isn't it? I'm really glad you liked it, though.

**alanna28** – Oh, such sweet words to a writer's ear! I'm hoping to work on the others soon. Well, one by one, eventually. 

**Redaeth** – Thanks! Updates are directly proportional to reviews! 

DISCLAIMER: Ranma and co. belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter 6

This wouldn't do. 

Akane stood in the shade of a large tree with drooping branches and considered her situation. Until now, she'd taken whatever came her way passively, but meeting Rouge and the two bandits had changed everything.

No longer was she going to stand by and watch as events just *happened* to her. She was a royal princess, for heaven's sake! She may not be destined to rule, but she came from a long line of Tendo kings, and no doubt all of them were frowning down on her right this very moment.

Akane cocked an uncertain eye towards the sky with some amount of trepidation. Blue sky, a few clouds floating by, a flock of small birds on the wing….nope, no angry ancestors. Still, best not to take any chances. The first thing to deal with was the arrogant, bad-tempered apprentice who was dragging her by the arm along the length of Nerima only because he was bound to her by some mystical chain. Akane wasn't sure whether to thank Mousse for putting the geas on Ranma (because Ranma would certainly have left her to starve otherwise) or to curse Mousse for forcing Ranma's company on her.

"Idiot Mousse!" she finally decided. "If he'd saved me the first time, I wouldn't have this problem!"

Her current problem was crouching a few feet away, moving his hand back and forth through a wooden branch several times, with no success. "Damn, it," he complained. "This spell is driving me crazy!"

Akane rolled her eyes. Like it was a walk in the park for her.

Ranma cursed long and steadily in a low voice. He truly was insubstantial, and could touch nothing in the real world except Akane. Not that that was so bad. The memory of kissing her, feeling her soft lips parting beneath his, caused him to draw a deep, shaky breath. For a moment, Ranma wondered if Rouge had laid the spell of invisibility on him. But no, he would have felt her try. It had to be the geas laid on him by Mousse. It was getting stronger, binding him more and more securely to Akane.

If Akane hadn't been watching, Ranma would have been sorely tempted to throw a tantrum or pull his hair out. The stupid blind boy couldn't even cast a spell properly, and here he was making Ranma's life complete and utter hell.

Ranma wanted to howl. Ranma wanted to kick something. Ranma wanted to ask Akane if she knew how damn low her neckline had ripped from their scuffle with the bandits, and was she aware that every step she took flashed an indecent amount of leg through the rip in her dress?

It would serve her right if he tossed her on the ground and decided to explore that rip long and thoroughly, taking his time, gliding his hand up her smooth skin….

_This is what going insane feels like_, he told himself starkly.

He looked at the stick lying innocently there on the grass. If looks could burn, the stick would have burst into flame right there.

"You'll have to do it." He stood and glowered at Akane. "Pick up those sticks, too. We'll need them for a fire."

"What's the magic word?" Akane consciously imitated Madame St Paul at her snottiest.

"Abracadabra?"

"You obviously didn't learn politeness in that grungy cave," Akane said with a tart sniff.

"You'll learn the feel of my hand on your backside if you don't hop to it _right now_!"

Akane jumped, fifteen years of meekness coming to the fore. But she fought it back. What would Rouge the demon do? She wondered.

Rouge would claw Ranma's eyes out, she decided. Akane looked at her hands, shocked to see they were dirty and smudged. No claws, though.

"On one condition," she said.

"What. condition." Ranma ground out.

Akane pointed.

"That's an apple tree, isn't it?"

Ranma followed her finger up.

"Yeah, so?"

"I want some apples. I'm hungry." Don't explain yourself, Akane, she chided herself. If your royal princessliness wants an apple, who's to say no?

"No."

Akane crossed her arms.

"Well, then no fire."

"I don't make bargains."

"You'll make this one." A thrill went through her. Somehow arguing with Ranma made her feel…alive. And she was actually winning. She could tell it by the tone of his voice. Then he looked at her, as though calculating something.

"Very well, make the fire, and I'll help you get the apples."

Caught in the joy of winning, Akane didn't notice the odd wording. She knelt and began to pick up the pieces, thinking hard. Ranma was her enemy, and his master's plans could not be allowed to succeed. As a princess, it was royal duty to foil their wicked plot.

First, though, she had to find out what that plot was. 

Even as she mulled it over, Ranma concentrated. He'd used up power he could ill afford to lose by killing those two bandits who had attacked Akane, but hopefully he could still call up a heat spell, one of the first spells he'd ever learnt.

Akane watched as a small blue flame gradually lit up within Ranma's cupped hands. He directed it towards the sticks, and soon a small fire had started up.

 "How did you come to be a sorcerer's apprentice?" she said as casually as possible, her gaze trained on the flames.

Ranma looked up at her from his own spot near the fire.

"Why do you ask?"

"Magicians aren't very common in Nerima."

"Kulloden is a sorcerer, not a magician!" Ranma said scornfully.

"Kulloden is your master?" Akane prodded.

"Yes…" Well, ever since he had laid his geas on Ranma, that is. But that was different. It was the geas of a master to his apprentice, and when Ranma was a full sorcerer, the geas would disappear. In theory, anyway.

"I suppose you haven't been with him for very long, even though you know a lot of magic," Akane mused out loud.

"I've been with him almost since I was born!" Did Akane think such magic came easily? Didn't she realize that the spells he knew took years to master?

"You look about the same age as me," Akane said. "You've really been with him for fifteen years? How did your parents allow it?"

"My parents? Ha!" Ranma looked away, angry. "They abandoned me as a baby on the beach. I don't even know them! Why would they care?"

"Really? That's horrible!" Akane glanced up. She wondered- Did Ranma know that for sure? She wouldn't put it past evil sorecers to lie. They probably did it all the time. But bringing that up might alert Ranma and put an end to all the information she was getting. "Was Shampoo another baby he found?"

"No, Shampoo's mother sold her to him. We've never met her. She was a servant who wanted to buy her passage to another country." Ranma had never been able to decide if Shampoo's mother was worse, or his parents were. At least Shampoo's mother hadn't left her for dead.

"So you and Shampoo grew up together, like brother and sister." Akane wondered what next to ask. She didn't want to make Ranma suspicious, but she really needed to know what Kulloden's plan was.

"More like two servants in the same house. We can hardly stand each other."

"But now that Kulloden's dead, there's not much holding you together, is there?"

"Dead? Ha! Ranma snorted. "Kulloden's not dead! He's…" Ranma caught himself. Damn, he was spilling secrets to her!

Perhaps there was a way to turn Akane's questioning around on her. He chuckled inwardly and deliberately relaxed.

"He's a master sorcerer, more powerful than anyone else in the kingdom!" he boasted.

"Doesn't sound that powerful to me," Akane said. "After all, my father's soldiers found us pretty fast."

"It was a trap, stupid," Ranma smirked. "Now Shampoo is princess instead of you, and you're stuck out here, trying to trick information from me!"

Oh, he'd caught her.

"Now the apples," she said. Any distraction in a tight spot.

"Now the apples," Ranma agreed, an odd light in his eyes. He walked to the tree, stood underneath it, and then looked at Akane expectantly.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Well, I have no magic left, so this will have to be done by hand," Ranma said. Akane looked closely. He was hiding a smirk.

"And if you've forgotten," Ranma continued, enjoying the sight of the momentarily speechless princess, "I can't hold the apples."

"But I _can_…" he said, grinning at her. "…hold you."

"What?" Akane stared at him. "You expect me to get them? We had a bargain!"

"I said I would _help_ you." Ranma couldn't help grinning. He was enjoying this far too much. Oh, the look on her face. "I'll give you a lift up until you reach the apples, and then you can pluck them. Unless, of course you can climb." He knew with utter certainty that Akane had never been near a tree in her life.

She approached slowly. To give her credit, she examined the tree first. She went around it, looking at the lowest branches which were still a good six feet up. She gave him an angry, helpless look that tugged at him and stirred feelings of male satisfaction in him.

"Fine, I'll use you," she said. "How does this work?"

Ranma made a step with his hands.

"You step into my hands, I lift you up," he explained. "You can put your other foot on my shoulder. I'll keep your legs steady. Grab as many apples as you can. Throw them to the ground if you can't hold any more."

Akane listened with some anxiety. She took a deep breath, stepped into Ranma's cupped palms and yipped with fright as he lifted her up. She threw her arms around his head, her fingers digging deep into the sable hair.

"Akane, let go!" Ranma, startled, used her name. "Reach for the branch above you. Trust me."

Slowly Akane loosened her hold. She looked up. The branches were a lot closer now. Heartened, she reached up and caught them. Using them for balance, she straightened. Ranma wrapped an arm around her legs.

"What are you doing? Akane shrieked, looking down.

"I was losing my grip." Ranma lowered his head and grinned. "You wouldn't want me to drop you, would you?"

"No!" Akane panicked and clung to the apple branches. "Don't drop me!"

"Then hurry up and get the apples."

Akane looked up. Here and there, an apple hung within her reach, red and shining. Carefully, she reached out and plucked them, letting each fall to the ground as she did so. Ranma shifted his grip yet again, his hand coming dangerously near parts Akane considered very private. She looked down.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "Don't touch me!"

"Sorry? You want to jump?" Ranma inquired, fighting a grin. He could feel the smooth length of Akane's legs in his hands.

"No!" Akane crouched instinctively and stepped off Ranma's shoulder. Losing her balance, she began to fall. Ranma's hand tangled in her dress and caught her.

"Oh…." Akane froze, scared to breathe. In the scuffle, Ranma's hand had somehow gotten _under_ her skirt. His fingers were splayed against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, holding her upright. 

"Ranma…." She began, a storm ready to break. Ranma recognized the warning signs.

"Oops," he said.

Akane shrieked as she slipped further. She didn't dare to move a muscle. Ranma's fingertips now brushed the very edge of her underwear. She opened her eyes.

Ranma hadn't felt so exhilarated in ages. He looked up into Akane's eyes. She looked like a stunned deer. He wanted to laugh.

"You're wearing silk," he said. Ever so slowly, he brushed his fingers back and forth. Akane gasped, shut her eyes and threw her head back. Her fingers tightened on the apple branch above her, and a few more apples fell.

"Ranma please," she whispered, terrified of saying something that would make her fall. She felt naked and extremely vulnerable in this position, poised between earth and sky, caught inescapably in the arms of her tormentor.

"Please what?" Ranma exulted in the power he suddenly had over Akane. She was so completely and utterly helpless. He couldn't help it. He shifted his other hand to tenderly stroke the soft skin of her ankle.

Akane shivered, her eyes still shut.

Ranma propped her foot on his shoulder and drew an invisible line from her ankle, up her shin, to her knee, enjoying the feel of smooth skin beneath his fingertips. He moved the fingers of his other hand along the line of damp silk again, and slipped an index finger in. It was warm, wet heaven.

Akane shrieked and lost her balance completely, tumbling into Ranma's arms. He caught her before she fell.

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Ooh, does this count as a cliffhanger? I can't decide.


	7. Ranma And Akane, Sitting in a Tree

A/N: Aaaargh! I've been trying to write the next chapter of Possession forever! It's just not happening! I even re-watched all 26 of the anime episodes. No spark! Even though I fell in love with Fruits Basket all over again! After all that, this was the next chapter that came out…So, please review! :)

**nessa** – Glad you liked it!

**Jace3** – Hey, glad Pricne Kunou is creeping you out, cos' that's what he's here for! :)

**TinKerBell43** – Thanks! Here ya go! I'll try to update faster next time.

**MidnightStarz** – I do try to update all my stories once in a while..erm..at least, the ones I have SOME inspiration for.

**evy29** – I know the last chapter ended in a WEE bit of suspense, but hope this takes care of it.

**Angela Jewell** – And here is more! :)

**Frostbite**- At least this chapter doesn't have much of a cliffhanger…

**manina** - giggle thanks, one chapter coming up!

**noelani**– Thanks for the advice, I've changed the rating.

**anime**** DUST- **Yeah, kinda weird that they're young, huh? But my high school class-mates were..um..pretty hormone-ridden…hehe

**Lady Mokodane- **Wow, a marriage offer! Now I've got it made! Lol**…**Sorry, Mokodane-chan, the story is free.

**EGBC**- I can just never get enough compliments! How sad is that?

**WW**- Need to hang on to my readers...cliffhangers are a tried and true (if brutally cruel and painful) method to which I myself have been subjected..

**apie** – And I have updated! :)

**Moonlight-Miko** – That's good to know, so here's another helping of R&A.

**Leina** – Hey, did you read my explaination about Akane's smooth legs? BUT if you catch any more errors, I'd be SO happy to correct them. And I do agree about siblings…there's always a bond of SOME kind…I still shudder when I remember some of my teen fights with my brother- many items were thrown-though Ranma and Shampoo aren't related by blood, really. :)

**Christine**- The cliffy has been resolved!

**Sieg**- Thanks! :)

**Numena**- Yeah the last bit was a little spicy, no? Had to up the rating after that one!

**R Junkie**- Well, I didn't want sex fiend Ranma to emerge when Akane was still being a mouse…that would be WRONG!

Okay, on with the story!

Chapter 7

Ranma bent his dark head and kissed the breathless princess in his arms, his braid slipping down his shoulder to brush her cheek.

He was enjoying himself thoroughly, unaware of the slight thread of blue light that hummed between their bodies.

"You're welcome," he murmured, between kisses.

Akane pushed him away, her heart-shaped face flushed and rosy, her eyes wide. "For what?" she asked, looking discomposed.

"For helping you with the apples, of course," he said, his blue-grey eyes still trained on her mouth, glittering with some strange light that made them unfathomable, hard to read.

Akane squinted up at him, aware that she was still caught in the cradle of his arms, her tattered skirt riding dangerously high.

It was an impossible situation.

"Put me down," she commanded.

In her father's palace, commands had not come easily to her. Her ladies-in-waiting usually only gave her haughty stares, attending to her only if the Queen or Kuno was paying attention. But here, she barely noticed how easily commands fell from her lips. If she had, self-consciousness would have made her stumble.

Yet her present circumstances were so undignified that Akane found only dignity could get her through them.

She stared imperiously at Ranma through narrowed eyes, silently demanding.

He smiled, and acquiesced, lowering her to the grass before allowing her to stand on her own feet.

Akane, of course, lost no time in moving as far away from him as she could comfortably get.

Ranma had to grin as he watched her make a quick circumvention around the fire so that now he'd have to jump over the flames to get at her. She'd even managed to snag an apple on her way, and now sat crunching the red fruit with relish, avoiding his gaze.

But now that he _wasn't_ holding her, was no longer in physical contact with her, Ranma's head began to clear slightly. He frowned, rubbing his forehead. Why was he suddenly so attracted to her? It had to be the geas…. Just two days ago he'd been pushing her underwater with no compunction whatsoever….the memory made him wince. And THAT made his naturally suspicious mind take note. Surely his feelings hadn't changed that quickly! The magic, Mousse's magic, was working on endearing her to him, somehow.

Ranma scowled. This wasn't good. If he continued to spend time with the princess, his loyalties would begin to get subverted.

He would never betray his master, of course. Kulloden's geas on Ranma predated any other spell laid on him. But if Mousse's spell continued to invade his mind and fill it with Akane, he was going to be useless to his master. And himself. Just the idea of becoming a mindless slave to Akane made Ranma sweat.

Best to stay as far away from her as possible.

Best to high-tail it to the castle!

There was a crashing in the bushes not too far to his left, and all thoughts of Akane immediately left Ranma. On his guard, he turned, summoning a simple defense spell to his hand before his mind had registered any visible danger.

Akane paused in mid-chew, then set her apple aside. She'd been busy listening to Madame St. Paul lecture her inside her head. "_This is what comes of consorting with young men of no birth or breeding! As soon as they get a chance, they grope you and kiss you and before you know what's happening, you're tumbling in the grass like one of those loose women! What would your mother think? What would the King think? Most importantly, what would Prince Kuno think?_!"

Akane closed her eyes and chewed her apple as she imagined Madame St Paul's long index finger moving up and down as she scolded. One of these days, the old bat was going to poke someone's eye out, and _then_ where would she be?

Akane laughed at the image, trying her best not to look at Ranma. Trying her very best NOT to think of being kissed by Ranma, because that only made her thoughts get incredibly muddled, and _this_…Akane looked around at the forest….this was NOT a good situation for muzzy thoughts.

Leaves rustled loudly, and there was the sound of footsteps, thudding closer and closer. Akane immediately glanced at Ranma to check his reaction, then was annoyed with herself for doing so.

Ranma stood like a warrior, his rain-tinted eyes alert, small blue flames beginning to lick at his fingertips. All his formidable focus was trained on the sound coming out of the forest, making Akane even more aware that she herself was quite unprepared for any attacks.

A young man raced out into the clearing, looking over his shoulder. He turned, saw them, and came to an abrupt, dust-raising stop. He looked to be about their age, Akane saw, perhaps fifteen or sixteen. He wore a rough fur trimmed jacket and trousers, and he carried a backpack. A bandanna was wrapped around his forehead, keeping his hair out of his eyes.

He stared at Ranma, then at Akane, who watched him with the numb eyes of one who had met one too many strangers already and couldn't be bothered to be surprised by one more.

"Hail, travelers," he said, raising his hand in a half-hearted traveler's greeting.

Ranma released the hold on his power, letting his hand drop to his side, though his demeanor stayed wary.

"Hello," Akane said, taking in the stranger's appearance. "What are you running from?"

"Oh!" The young man smiled, abashed. "I scared myself, that's all. Thought I heard noises. Suppose it was you? Think I misheard…." He smiled shyly and rubbed the back of his neck in some consternation.

"Must have," Ranma said shortly. "Well, now that we know none of us are attacking each other today, I guess you'll want to be on your way?"

The stranger shuffled his feet and looked longingly at the fire.

"Do join us," Akane said cordially, doing her best to TAKE CHARGE as royalty should.

Ranma scowled at her for making so free with their hospitality.

"But if you've gotta be on your way, we'll understand," he said.

The stranger grinned cheerfully. "Not at all!"

He arranged himself in front of the fire with sinuous grace, tucking his limbs in neatly.

"Thank you, lady," he said to the princess. "I'm Ryouga."

"And you may call me Akane."

"Thank you, Akane. I would be honoured if you'd share some of my food."

Ryouga began to bring out a loaf of bread, a round of cheese and a leg of meat out of his knapsack without waiting for permission. Ranma watched him.

The leg looked to be venison, he noted, while Akane tried politely not to salivate at the sight of food.

"You've been hunting in the forest," Ranma said with interest. Deer weren't easy to catch in this forest.

"It's better than apples," Ryouga replied with a glance at the scattered fruit lying on the ground.

_Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that_. Ranma couldn't help slanting a look at Akane, who was blushing.

"Actually," Ryouga continued, with a sideways glance at Ranma. "I've been searching out travelers as I go. I'm looking for someone."

Ranma and Akane tensed. Was Ryouga looking for Akane by some odd chance? But no, he hadn't reacted to her name. Akane was still his prisoner, and Akane's smouldering glare at Ranma told him that she didn't like the idea of being either his or Ryouga's prisoner.

"I've heard there's an apprentice of Kulloden the sorcerer in the forest," Ryouga said, still looking at Ranma. "I'm searching for him." His eyes said he recognized what Ranma was.

Akane looked at Ranma, who felt a chill go through him. Why on earth would someone actually seek out Kulloden?

"Seems an idiotic thing to do," he grunted, and sat next to the fire to warm his hands. "Sorcerers are dangerous."

"I have no choice," Ryouga said shortly, hunching his shoulders. "I need his help."

"People think that, until they meet him," Ranma said. "Then they only worry about how to get as far away from him as possible."

"I have nothing to live for," Ryouga said sadly, looking into the fire. "Even if he gives me death, it's better than my present existence."

"Geez, how melodramatic," Ranma mocked.

"Quiet, Ranma," Akane admonished him from her seat behind the fire. "Why are you looking for the sorcerer, Ryouga?"

Ryouga hung his head."I'm cursed, Akane, cursed horribly, irreversibly. Only the sorcerer can help me."

"He's dead." Ranma's reply was terse.

Ryouga's head came up in shock. "You're lying- No sorcerer dies that easily."

Ranma made no reply.

Ryouga looked up at the darkening sky, and Akane silently followed his gaze, surprised that the day had withered so quickly. Night was approaching on swift wings, and she could see the moon beginning to rise, pale and ethereal.

Ryouga stood, anger darkening his face, and he came to stand before Ranma.

"Tell me, apprentice! Yes, I know who you are! All the forest knows it! Tell me where he is! I need his teaching, his magic! Tell me, before my curRRR…" Ryouga's head fell back, and he screamed in pain. His hands came up to claw at his eyes, and he fell to his knees.

Akane watched in shock as his body began to bulge and _change_….his face lengthened. He dropped to all fours.

Ranma and Akane leapt to their feet.

"What's happening to him?" Akane wanted to know. "Is he a _mononoke_- a spirit or something?"

"Stay there," Ranma ordered. "This is gonna get awkward." He was puzzled. This wasn't a Jusenkyou curse. Those were instantaneous. So why was Ryouga looking for Kulloden? "Don't move," he continued.

Akane barely heard, watching Ryouga turn into some sort of beast from legend, wondering what he would turn out to be. She recognized his final shape- the doughty, bristled body, the short, sharp feet, the gleaming foot-long tusks.

"Ranma?" She said softly. "What you said earlier, about how none of us are attacking each other today- I don't think that counts anymore."

The were-boar snorted and turned her way, red eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

Frightened, Akane screamed, and Ranma's warning completely slipped from her mind. This was the stuff of nightmares. This was a real and true _monster_! Akane ran for the cover of the trees. Heedless, she crashed through bushes and bounced off tree trunks in her fear, trying to put as much distance as she could before the creature (_monster!_) pounced on her.

In the clearing, Ranma watched with irritation as the were-boar Ryouga chased Akane. Hadn't he told her to stay put, he asked himself. It would serve her right if he left her to be ripped to pieces by Ryouga.

He thought of something else then. Of course! That's why Ryouga had been able to see him. The traveler was cursed by magic. And it explained why Rouge could see him, too.

Furious, he forgot the power of the magic. He closed his eyes and sent out a silent command, even as he imagined the geas as a blue rope that tied Akane to him. In his mind's eye he could see it, the strong, shining blue cord. He looped it around his arm like rope, loop over loop, and then he _yanked_.

There was a scream and a crash from somewhere deep in the forest. Ranma smiled grimly. The geas had worked on Akane just like it had on him, and had brought her up short. The were-boar was somewhere in the forest too, following Akane most likely.

So before the boar could catch her, Ranma brought Akane's face to mind, used the power of the geas, and _stepped_ forward.

He nearly tripped over Akane's prone form where she lay in a tangle of bushes, unconscious. The were-boar was close. He could hear it sniffing them out carefully, moving in the undergrowth.

Glancing around, he spotted a handy tree. It was tall and heavy, just what he needed.

He lifted Akane's supine body and quickly made his way up the lower branches, drawing on his childhood spent scaling the cliffs on Kulloden's island to climb the tree.

The boar caught his scent quickly, but arrived at the foot of the tree too late. It roared, pounded uselessly with its tusks at the base of the tree and stamped its feet, glaring up at Ranma out of tiny garnet eyes.

The commotion woke Akane. She sat up groggily on the branch where Ranma had placed her.

"What happened?" She asked dazedly. The tree shook from yet another blow from the boar, and when Akane looked down, recollection came rushing back.

"Oh, no," she moaned, putting her head in her hands. "I'm stuck inside some giant nightmare. I wish I was back home safe in bed." She looked up. Maybe some kind forest spirit was listening? "I wish I was back in the PALACE," she said carefully, spelling it out for whatever unseen deity might be out there. "Right NOW."

Ranma was looking at her oddly. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Did you hit your head when you fell?"

Akane suddenly remembered the last forest spirit they'd encountered. The flesh-eating one. "Never mind," she sighed.

"Relax," Ranma comforted her. "We'll be safe for tonight."

"Are we really staying up here all night?" Akane demanded.

"Do you see another choice?"

So Akane made herself as comfortable as possible in the tree branches, and didn't even object too much when Ranma made her use his shoulder as a pillow.

_You shouldn't be touching her,_ Ranma's inner voice reminded him. _The geas likes physical contact…Ranma? Hello? Damn, he's asleep._

Neither of them noticed when soft blue energy began to gather around their bodies. Only the were-boar below was awake enough to notice the soft humming that began to envelop the sleeping Ranma and Akane, and HE definitely didn't care.

The humming increased.

Akane was on the beach. The waves were rolling up the sand not too far away and she could hear the cries of hunting seagulls. She discovered the she was holding a long stick. She looked down at her feet, where she had drawn various magical symbols into the sand. One of them wasn't right, she knew it. She stared hard at it, but no matter what, the word simply wouldn't come right in her head.

"Haven't you finished yet?" A harsh voice demanded.

Looking up, Akane was horrified to see that it was the sorcerer who had kidnapped her. Kulloden. He looked exactly the same, his long black hair shining like black wings down his shoulders.

"You're incredibly slow, and very stupid," Kulloden stated in a voice like ice, "but even YOU should be able to correct this simple, simple equation! Shampoo of course has already finished."

Akane felt hot tears fill her eyes at this. She wanted to get the stupid equation right, but…

Then the beach blurred, and everything went black. Akane awoke with a start._ What was that about_, she wondered. But because she knew nothing about how magic worked, she was not half as frightened as Ranma would have been. Instead, she simply went back to sleep.

In the morning, Ranma called down to an abashed and naked Ryouga, "Okay, you convinced me...You can probably find Kulloden on one of the islands just off the coast. I'm not sure which one, though."

"Er…thanks...."Ryouga gave the sleepy Akane an embarrassed bob of the head. "So sorry about last night, lady Akane! Please forgive me if you can!"

He rushed off.

Ranma and Akane looked at each other.

Okay, um, please review! :) The more reviews I get, really the more likely I am to finish a story…usually…hmmm…….


	8. Twisted feelings

**Jace3 **– Yup, you got it in one! Ryouga is a lycanthrope, all right….You'll see more of him.

**RuedaAmbrosia** – Six months, pshaw! Well, I tried to post this before Thursday, but ff.net messed up, and the website was down. Hope you have a great trip! Er...where are you going?

**Roselle** – Thanks!

**Sieg1308** – Hey, thanks for the review, delayed or not! :)

**Frostbite** – Yup, I hate cliffhangers, too. This chapter is not too bad, either.

**hecate2 – **Lol, a mallet trick? Hm, I should think about that some more!! Sounds like a good idea though. And yes, I AM working on my unfinished fics….

**WW **- Thanks, I like the kiss, too! Hehe.And I appreciate you liking my opening. A good opening is hard to do!

**Moonlight-Miko** – Hey, I don't know about other writers, but yelling really works with me!

**Oyuki**– Hope you like this chapter, too. This is more Shampoo oriented, but ya gotta deal with all parts of the story, right?

**alanna28** – Yup, you guessed it. There isn't too much about the geas in this chapter, which is sad, cos I just realized that a lot of people are wondering about it, but I had to see what Shampoo was upto.

**Nessa** – Yes, Kulloden has his eye on Ranma, all right. Just wait and see. I'm not so sure about Ranma's feelings. Right now, the geas is definitely playing a strong part in how he acts towards Akane. Not to mention the time they've been spending together. Rouge should be showing up in the next chapter.

**angelajewell** – Ryouga, ah what a cutie! Glad you liked it.

Okay, here's chapter 8.

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Chapter 8

Mousse slammed the lid down on the cooking pot, hastily cutting off a questing tentacle. The pot jumped slightly, as though something were trying to escape. Steam wafted up from a slight gap between the lid and pot.

"Good thing that's not our dinner!" Shampoo said, tying the lid into place. Mousse let go of the pot.

"That's not what I expected to happen," He took off his glasses and carefully wiped the misty lenses with the edge of his sleeve.

"Certainly not! The book says…" Shampoo picked up the thick old grimoire they had been using, and followed the recipe with her finger. "Hmm, it looks like…yes, oh for crap's sake…"

Mousse was shocked into silence. Royalty did not usually speak like that. And Princess Akane? Well, then again, he'd never heard her up close hat often…He smiled. It WAS unusual to hear a princess curse.

"Er, I mean, I do believe…" Shampoo restarted, seeing the look on Mousse's face.

"What? What?" Mouse asked anxiously.

Shampoo looked up. "I do believe I misread 'red stake' for 'dead snake'…Easy mistake, once you catch it. There's this little blob where the 'r' is hidden...looked like…mumble mumble" She bent her head again.

Mousse checked the cook pot down and said, "So that's why it has tentacles."

Shampoo nodded abashedly. Then she looked surprised. "What?" she wondered. "Why are you laughing?"

Mousse shook his head, unable to speak for giggles. "Hahahaha…It…was supposed…to be a spell…for bats…Did you SEE...it?" He bent over laughing again.

Shampoo smiled tentatively and closed the grimoire. _How different from Ranma he is_, she mused. _Ranma- so cocky, so arrogant, so short-tempered! Mousse… sees the world more light-heartedly._

She found it a pleasant change from…_From what?_ _From the island, which was my whole life, until now?_

Shampoo glanced around at the small, dark stone laboratory, seeing in her mind's eye the vast expanse of the palace outside. _All of this will be mine, as long as I follow Kulloden's plan. That's ALL I have to worry about._

She studied Mousse again as the dark-haired boy, still smiling, began to undo the spell they'd created. Kulloden would never let another magic-user live would he? Especially one who was the enemy. Shampoo was whiling away time here with him, true, but he knew nothing about her. Mousse didn't even know what she looked like! He thought she was the Princess Akane, for goodness' sake! Suddenly that thought bothered her, for some odd reason.

Shampoo shook herself and rose. She'd been spending too much time here in the last two days, that's all it was. She should be paying attention to Kulloden's plan.

As though her thoughts had summoned him, she heard Kulloden's voice suddenly, deep and clear in her mind.

**_Shampoo! My child, do you hear me?_**

_Yes, master!_

**_Have you done what I asked?_**

_Not yet, master. It's been hard to…_

"Princess Akane, why are you staring into thin air? Are you alright?"

She dragged her gaze back to a concerned-looking Mousse. "Yes, I'm fine…"She stood. "I just need some fresh air. I'll see you later, Mousse."

"If you're sure, princess. But, are you certain you're all right?"

"I'm fine!" Shampoo snapped. And regretted it when she saw the look in his clear green eyes. "I'm…sorry…really, I'm fine."

She hurried out before he could say anything, puzzled at Mousse's attitude. Why did it matter if she'd blanked out? Unless she was broken or bleeding, neither Kulloden nor Ranma had ever paid much attention to her. She was expected to take care of herself, as was Ranma. But Mousse had seemed…concerned.

She threw the unfamiliar word around in her head for a minute, trying to fit it in with her own behaviour. It simply would not gel. But then she understood.

_Of course! It's just because he thinks you're Akane! Naturally princesses are coddled and cosseted all the time. No doubt, even if they stare off into space for a second, people worry about them. _

Shampoo's hatred of Akane increased. Mousse hadn't been worried about her, he'd been worried about Akane!

Out in the garden again, Shampoo looked around for a suitable place to sit before she re-established the mental link to Kulloden.

"Dear Akane!"

Shampoo spun around. _Where? Oh, right… me._

"Have you recovered, dear sister?" Kunou was striding across the grass towards her, a wide smile on his handsome face. He held his arms out, beckoning. "Come, come let me look at you."

Shampoo felt immediate revulsion. She wondered now how she'd ever managed to sit a horse with Kunou at all. She bowed, creating distance between them. "Brother," she said. "I'm well now, thank you for your concern."

Kunou had reached her. "Are you sure? There are no bruises remaining? " he asked, running a quick hand down the skin of her arm. "Your ladies-in-waiting said you may be found out here." He deftly turned his caress into a hug, using his arm to pull Shampoo under his shoulder. "It's been a while since we've talked."

Shampoo shrugged out of the grasp with astonishing quickness. "That's not true. We've just been talking right now. Please excuse me, Brother, as I'm wanted by the Queen. I'll see you later." She ran off without waiting for a reply.

She quickly rounded a bush, and was soon lost from view. Kunou was left looking puzzled.

"She's changed," he murmured. "She's not the scared rabbit she used to be. Hmmm….And I thought my training was…irreversible."

In the meantime, Shampoo found a quiet spot in the enormous garden and settled down.

_Master?___

**_Idiot! What took you so long?_**

Shampoo quailed slightly. _Sorry, Master, but the palace is very busy._

**_Never mind! Did you find the Book of Jusenkyou, Shampoo?_**

_Not yet, Master._

**_Remember, child. It's the key to the kingdom! Without it, we can only hope to live as sorcerers on a stone island forever!_**

_Yes, Master._

**_Do you like it in the palace?_**

Shampoo paused. What answer would he expect? _Yes, Master._

**_Excellent._****_ Well, remember, all that will be ours when the Book of Jusenkyou is ours!_**

_I know, Master._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

On a quiet, sandy beach somewhere, a muscled arm pulled itself up onto dry land. A dark, wet head looked up, and around.

"This must be it," Ryouga said. "I can feel it." He stood, surveying the bleak cliffs and rocky seashore. "Yes, he's here somewhere."

He set out to search.

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On another beach, Ranma and Akane were plodding onwards toward the palace. They'd left the forest behind in the morning, turning down towards the relatively quicker path of the coast road. And Akane's feet hurt.

Three days, Ranma had said, but Akane knew that their various stops had hindered their schedule. Ranma had looked at the sky, muttered some kind of calculations out loud, and then pronounced that the trip would take at least two more days than previously calculated.

Akane feet were long blistered, and the blisters had scabbed over. She could feel her feet getting horror of horrors harder. At this rate, by the time they reached the palace, she'd have feet as hard as hooves.

She HAD taken off her slippers though. The cool, wet sand was soothing to her poor bruised feet and she was enjoying the feeling.

She'd stopped paying much attention to the scenery, though it was pretty in a harsh way. They'd left the road itself for a while now, and were walking close to the shore. The great, grey waves rolled up the beach, and the lonely call of gulls echoed throughout the bowl of sky overhead. Little huts dotted the beach, too, with fishing nets hung out to dry or boats overturned to drain the seawater from them. Here and there, fishermen or fisherwomen sat sewing their torn nets whole again. They eyed the traveling pair curiously but asked no questions.

Ranma wasn't saying much to Akane. He walked a few paces ahead, lost in his own thoughts. Akane divided her time between wishing for a palanquin and a score of slaves to carry her, and mulling over the strange dream she'd had the night before.

_I was in Ranma's mind. How strange…Is this more magic? Was it a real memory? _She had a strong feeling that it was, though she wasn't sure. But she had an idea that if she asked Ranma about standing on the beach drawing spells when he was oh, 8 or 9, that terrible dead look would seep into his grey eyes again- the look he'd given her when he was half-drowning her in the ocean. She shuddered.

_At times I could almost forget I'm walking with a complete stranger, ­_she thought.

Eventually, they reached a stretch of beach with no more huts. The sand was grittier here, and bits of dried seaweed began to catch in Akane's feet.

She was about to ask for a rest, when she heard a child's laugh. Looking around, she saw a small girl, very young, barely more than a babe, making quick tracks down the beach. She was bobbling from side to side the way small children did when they ran very fast, and her laughter trailed behind her.

Akane couldn't help but smile. Ranma ignored the disturbance, still deep in thought. The child was a few feet behind her, and it kept going. It ran until it reached the waves, and splashed into them joyously. A bright needle of panic darted through Akane. She turned around and ran for the water. The little girl was still playing, oblivious to the fact that the current was carrying her out into deeper water.

Akane splashed through the knee-high waves with growing urgency, and quickly reached the splashing toddler. She scooped her up, amazed at how heavy she was.

"Ayaaaaaako!" Came a distant shout. "Ayaaaaaaaako!"

The toddler pouted at being removed from her fun, but was distracted when she saw that a stranger had picked her up.

Ranma was waiting, arms akimbo, when Akane splashed onto dry land carefully holding the child. "Do you have to stop and help EVERYone?" he demanded, but his voice was less acerbic than usual.

A tall slim young woman, not much older than Akane, came running up the beach, worry in her eyes. "Ayako!" She cried, reaching out her hands.

"Is this your daughter?" Akane asked. The toddler replied by saying, "Mama," and held her wet arms out to be snuggled furiously by the tearful young woman.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all right!" She looked up, her brown eyes grateful. "Thank you for saving her! I turned my back for just a moment!"

"It's all right," Akane said regally. "No bother."

"My name is Kasumi," the girl said. "This is my daughter, Ayako. Oh my, are you traveling alone?"

"No, of course not!" Akane turned automatically to Ranma, to see his chagrined look. Of course, Kasumi couldn't see him! She coughed. "Of course not! I'm..meeting up with someone later."

"Please, let me invite you home," Kasumi begged.

"Oh, there's no need…" Akane's demurral clashed with Ranma's loud but unheard "No!", both of them in accord for a change. Both wanted to get to the palace as soon as possible, and the delay was already chafing at them.

"Pardon me, but you look tired and hungry," Kasumi pointed out. Akane flushed. Ranma snorted. "Please, allow me to offer you some food, at least."

Akane shrugged. "All right. My name is Akane."

"Oh, like the princess!" Kasumi

Kasumi's home was a large hut, tucked neatly behind an overhang of the nearby hillock. She had a small yard neatly fenced in, with fat, red hens contentedly clucking on the ground. Inside, it was dark and warm, and smelled like fish. Various lobster pots sat in one corner, and a fishing net was hung over a rack. The furniture, what there was of it, was dark, polished walnut, simple pieces.

"Please, come in," Kasumi motioned, leading Akane and her unknown guest under the low doorway into the large front room. She seated Akane on a small wicker chair, and Ranma followed suit.

When Kasumi left to put the kettle on the stove, Akane looked around, and wondered at how different this humble hut was from Rouge's palace.

"This is ridiculous," Ranma muttered, sinking deeper into the cup-like wicker chair. "We can't be schlepping in and out of half the houses in the kingdom like this!"

Before Akane could reply, a voice said, "Kasumi, I'm home!" A girl with short brown hair, dressed in a tunic and breeches, entered the hut and stared at Akane. "Who are you?"

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It's an odd way to end I know, but that's all I have in me for today. :) Please do review!


	9. Fishing for Details

**A/N**: Thanks so much for all your reviews...I'm trying to get this out before I fall asleep over my computer, else I'd thank you all individually(which I still hope to do soon). The new plan is to try and get a chapter of SOMETHING out every week.

The second reason I'm posting this is cos' I ran across an excerpt from a Ranma story that I _really, really_ want to read!! If anyone knows what the name of this story is, who wrote it, or where I can find it, I'll willingly **write you two chapters ASAP of any one of my stories you want updated!!! (**As you can see, it's driving me crazy!)

**Excerpt: **

Ranma danced with Akane, leading her slowly down the hall toward her doom. Around them, other couples flashed by in a whirl of bright coloured silks and gay laughter. The haunting music played on, and Akane was caught in his eyes.

"So you want me to save you?" he asked, amusement brightening his grey eyes, his gaze trained on her face as he whirled her past the musicians. Akane could hardly bear the unholy delight she saw in his face. She averted her glance and mentally sifted through her choices again. There were too few- only two, actually. She could either watch as her soul faded away in a matter of days, or she could sell it to the highest bidder, and when she died, the demons would pull her to hell....or she could pay Ranma's price and keep her soul, what there was of it. And still she might have chosen hell, if she didn't need her soul to make the next transaction. Angels didn't deal with the soulless. It was her passport of entry. Even if she could retain her soul for a temporary period, it would be enough. But Balial wouldn't wait.

"Dearest lady Akane," Ranma mocked, "Your silence is most becoming, but really...inappropriate. Listen, wench! If you want to be saved, you've to decide now. In a few days, it will be impossible, even for one such as me. Whether I win or not, you'll lose."

Akane considered. The Eternal Champion...the knight destined to defend....yet what previous champions had done for free, now the Saotome clan charged for. Of course, it had brought them riches.

Lord Saotome, Knight of the Black, made his eyes unreadable. Even in this realm, what went around came around back to you, if you were patient. Akane had slipped through his hands once but she was so very near again, nothing could spoil it. She'd willingly give herself into his hands, and she would never be free again. He squelched a smile at the thought.

**END Excerpt**

**_So, if you know the story, don't leave me in suspense!_ :)**

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**Chapter 8. Fishing for Details**

Akane half-rose, startled. The young woman eyeing her suspiciously was entering through the small cottage door. Invisible in the seat across from Akane, Ranma folded his unseen legs and scowled at this new complication.

"This is Akane, Nabiki." Kasumi's voice floated out of the tiny kitchen behind her. "She's our guest."

Nabiki pulled off her slippers and eyed Akane inquisitively. "Akane, like the princess?"

Kasumi came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands dry on a dishcloth. "You know how many Akanes there are in the kingdom after the princess was born!" she said cheerfully.

She motioned towards Nabiki. "Akane, this is my younger sister, Nabiki."

"Great!" Ranma said, hitting his forehead with the heel of his palm. "Someone else to worry about! Watch it, Akane, this one looks sharper than the other one."

Akane smiled nervously. It wouldn't do for either of the sisters to know that she really was the princess. If it had been three days ago, Akane would have immediately spilled her story and demanded that they take her up to the castle, but circumstances had changed. She no longer blindly trusted everyone she came across. Kasumi seemed very nice, but Nabiki was watching her with speculation.

"Have we...met?" Nabiki asked. "You look...familiar."

Panicked, Akane fought not to look at Ranma. She did travel the kingdom once a year, to be seen by her subjects, but she was usually so covered up and the glimpses of her were so brief, it was impossible for any citizen to have a very good idea of what she looked like.

"I doubt it," she said. "But it is...nice...to meet you."

"Bow to her, fool!" Invisible Ranma hissed at her. "No, don't LOOK at me, just do it! Princesses don't bow, it'll throw that one off her guard."

Akane hurriedly bowed to Kasumi and Nabiki. "I'm very grateful to your sister for allowing me to rest here."

"Oh, no! I'm the grateful one!" Kasumi fluttered her hands. She turned to Nabiki. "Can you imagine? I let Ayako out of my sight for a moment. Before I knew it, she was wading out to sea..."

"Ayako?" Nabiki interrupted sharply. "Where is she?" Her worry for her niece drew her attention away from Akane.

"Thanks to Akane..." Kasumi resumed, but was interrupted yet again by her tiny daughter, who ran out, yelling with glee to see her aunt, and was scooped up into the arms of a relieved Nabiki.

"Silly darling, what did you do now?" Nabiki demanded of her. But Ayako spotted Akane, and shoved her way out of Nabiki's grasp to somehow squirm her way into Akane's arms. There she gurgled, and batted Akane's cheek happily.

Nabiki visibly relaxed when she saw her niece accepting the stranger, Akane saw. Obviously, the wary girl had a very soft spot for her niece.

"Well, dinner's almost ready. Shall we eat?" Kasumi smiled cheerfully. She ushered Akane and Nabiki in to the tiny kitchen, with her unknown, invisible guest following close behind. Akane nearly groaned at the smell of fresh fish stew and warm bread that invaded and tantalized her nose. Ranma groaned aloud. He was starving. He hadn't eaten since he went invisible, because it was impossible. His fingers simply went through everything.He wondered how he could filch some stew.

Kasumi seated Akane first, then she and Nabiki followed suit. She served Akane some stew and bread in a bowl first, as well as a huge mug of cider. Ayako she seated in her lap, and carefully fed her bits out of her own bowl.

Akane listened with one ear as Kasumi recounted the story of how she'd saved Ayako. She was distracted by Ranma's attempts to steal food from the cooking cauldron still on the stove, and his curses when he failed. Served him right to suffer a little for a change.

She took a spoonful of the stew and found it to be rich and delicious. The cider was tart, cold and tasty.

"So what were you doing out on the beach?" Nabiki asked Akane, bringing her attention back to the table.

"Er...I was...well, actually, I'm...meeting my cousin at the palace tomorrow," Akane lied desperately. "Er...she works there."

"Oh, my! Really?" Kasumi exclaimed. "Why, I work at the palace as well. I'm a maid there, you see. What is your cousin's name?"

Akane was flabbergasted. How in the world could she have such bad luck as to run into the one person arund here who worked at the palace? She racked her brain for any names, and finally remembered her lady-in-waiting.

"Ukyou," she said. "Ukyou...er...looks after some of the royal family, I believe, and she said she may be getting a few days off soon."

"Ukyou Kuonji?" Kasumi sounded startled. "Why, she's Princess Akane's attendant! I only know that because my friend Miko cleans her room. She says Ukyou is out at all times of the night and day, attending to Princess' Akane's every demand!"

Ranma laughed, though only Akane heard him.

"Every demand...?!" Akane sputtered. Since when was she such a demanding person? "And do you know the princess so well?"

"Of course not," Kasumi demurred. "I haven't been working there all that long, and the wing I clean is far away from the princess' chambers....but, you hear stories."

"What...what kind of stories?" Akane asked, unable to help herself. Gossip about herself was irresistible.

"Well, there's the story that the princess is so hideous that she's always hidden away. You have to admit no one REALLY knows what she looks like," Nabiki drawled.

"What?" Akane was truly shocked. Ranma was laughing harder. She scowled at him. He winked at her.

"But that's just exaggeration," Kasumi said. "Lots of people have seen the princess. One of these days, I hope I might. I did hear that she's been spending more time in the gardens, though. Some of the maids say they've seen her practicing some kind of magical martial arts she picked up on her trip."

_Shampoo._

Both Ranma and Akane paused when they realized the imposter was alive and well in the palace, Ranma with relief, Akane with fury.

"Anyway, I'm leaving for work early in the morning. You can travel with me, if you like," Kasumi generously offered, then rose to clear the bowls.

"You should offer to help wash the dishes," Ranma said. "We don't want them to suspect anything. Man, couldn't you have used a different name?"

Biting her lip to avoid snipping at Ranma and earning strange looks from the sisters, Akane did as Ranma suggested. But she was quite relieved when Nabiki, standing at the stone sink rinsing the bowls, refused her offer to help wash dishes, as she honestly had no idea of how to accomplish such a task.

Instead, Ayako climbed into her lap, and began to play with the lace on her collar.

Later, the three of them went to sit outside the cottage to watch the sunset, huge mugs of hot cocoa in their hands to warm them.

"It's so beautiful!" Akane exclaimed, unable to believe the riot of colours washing across the horizon as the sun began to sink.

"Yeah, we like the view," Nabiki said complacently.

For a few minutes they sipped their drinks and watched the show, their silence punctuated with the soothing sound of waves.

Inside the cottage, Ranma was concentrating with all his will."C'mon c'mon C'MON! It can't be this hard to turn visible." He stood in front of the stove, inhaling the lovely odours. "I don't want to starve. C'mon, concentrate!" He breathed the odour of the stew deep into his lungs, setting his mouth salivating.

"How long have you been here?"Akane asked, taking another sip of her cocoa.

"Since our parents passed away," Kasumi said. "We lived...elsewhere when they were alive. When they died, our great-uncle, a fisherman, brought us to live here. He passed on over two years ago."

"I'm sorry,"Akane said sincerely.

"It's all that sorcerer's fault!" Nabiki's voice was filled with hatred.

Inside the cottage, Ranma filled his mind with hunger, and then...

_Pop!_

He was visible again, he knew it! He grabbed the wooden spoon in the cauldron, and wanted to jump for joy when his fingers curled firmly around it.

He was about the brig the spoon to his mouth when he heard Akane.

"Sorcerer?" she squeaked.

What was she talking about? Spoon forgotten, Ranma moved closer to the entrance.

"Yes," Nabiki said. "He came to our house. He was looking for a baby with 'the gift', he said. Mother was pregnant with her third child. He wanted the baby. We were poor by then, but we would never have sunk so low. Father threw him out."

"Father grew ill after that," Kasumi said sadly. "And then, after he...was gone, Mother lost the baby. The midwife came out saying that the baby was stillborn. And Mother couldn't take the disappointment."

"How awful," Akane murmured, her mind stuck on the one word-sorcerer.

Inside, Ranma, too, had gone still. Not a muscle moved. Slowly, he shook his head. It couldn't be. Were they talking about Kulloden? How many sorcerers were there?

"What did he look like?"Akane asked.

"Had a face like a knife," Nabiki ground out.

"Long black hair," Kasumi added.

Ranma nodded. Yup, it was him all right. That meant...that this family had had their child stolen away by Kulloden.

That meant either he or Shampoo could be the lost sibling.

"Was the third baby a boy or a girl?" Akane asked. Ranma almost felt like hugging her then, but his spirits didn't stay high.

"We don't know," Kasumi asked. "We were too young to ask that."

Akane turned shocked eyes towards the doorway, and wondered if Ranma was listening to all this.

"We didn't mean to bring up such grim topics tonight," Kasumi said with a laugh. "Nabiki, please tell us a story to make us smile."

Akane listened, and laughed when Nabiki narrated the story of Nala and how he had outwitted a demon. Meanwhile, Ranma ladled stew into a bowl and thoughtfully chewed some bread, his mind turning over the things he had heard.

He washed the bowl as silently as possible and replaced it with the others. He looked around quietly. Akane's bedding had already been laid out in the loft of the cottage. Quickly, he climbed up the stairs and hid himself in the quilts.

The night grew cooler, and Ayako drooled on Akane's shoulder, happily asleep. Kasumi and Nabiki rose, and collected the empty mugs, ushering Akane inside. Entering the kitchen, Akane looked around for Ranma, but there was no sign of him.

For a brief moment, she entertained the idea that maybe he had left. The thought panicked her, and that in turn infuriated her. Just because he was the only familiar face around didn't mean she WANTED him around!

Perhaps he had slipped out and gone for a walk.

"As I said earlier, Akane, your bedding is up in the loft," Nabiki reminded her. Akane immediately yawned at the thought of warm bedclothes. Laughing, Kasumi took Ayako from her, and shooed her up the wooden ladder.

"Good night, and than you very much," Akane said, looking down at them as she climbed. She reached the top of the ladder and scrambled across the low wooden crawlspace. Tired and content, she didn't notice the unfamiliar shape in her bed.

Until a large, male hand came up to cover her mouth, making her scream.

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Okay, please do review. I'm so happy people are still reading this! By the way, if anyone recognizes the excerpt, PLEASE let me know! :) Thanks loads!


	10. Proving a Point to Akane

A/N: Hey, thanks for all the awesome reviews!!! If not for them , I wouldn't be uploading anew chapter in the middle of the night, with work early the next day!

About the excerpt in the last chapter, no, I still have no idea about what story it is, but if I ever do find out I will definitely post it.

A WARNING about this chapter. Sadly, it's almost gratuitous, but what the hell can I say? I needed to show the power of the geas. Yeah, right. Anyway, for those of you who don't like mild lime, you probably should skip this chapter.

Otherwise, enjoy!

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"Quiet!" Ranma hissed into Akane's ear as his palm muffled her panicked cries. "It's just me."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Akane exclaimed when he removed his hand. "Do you go around trying to frighten people on purpose?!"

Akane rolled onto her side. It was hard to see Ranma in the dim shadows of the tiny loft, which was low-ceilinged but deep. He lay on his side as well, facing her, already under the blankets, which was why she hadn't made out his shape as she climbed up onto the bedding.

"It's not my fault that it's dark in here," Ranma replied. "But look." He took hold of the blanket and folded his fingers around it. Akane stared for a second before she understood.

"You're visible again!" she cried, relieved. Then she remembered their surroundings. "Oh! Oh, no, you're visible again." This time, her voice held apprehension.

"Well, at least I got some supper into me. I was about to starve, watching all of you shovel that stew into your mouths," Ranma said shortly.

"Princesses do not shovel!"Akane hissed indignantly.

"Stuff it," Ranma retorted, losing interest in the conversation. He was getting sleepy. All the sneaking around had tired him out. He stifled a yawn with one hand.

"You'll have a problem getting out of the hut," Akane predicted. "Kasumi and Nabiki have just gone to bed. If one of them comes out, you'll find it hard to hide."

"I'll worry about that in the morning," Ranma said with another yawn and lay back on the sheets.

"The…morning?" Akane sat up straight, outraged. "You plan to sleep HERE? Absolutely not! I won't allow…It's simply not…"

Instantly, the temperature in the tiny loft dropped.

"Princess." The young man who turned his head to look up at Akane was suddenly a threat. The cold light in his grey eyes abruptly chilled her. Without warning, the memory of being dunked by him in the icy sea returned to her, and Akane was yet again reminded that a stranger lay in her bed.

A hostile stranger, no less. Akane shuddered and began to move away, determined to climb back down the ladder, but Ranma's arm snaked out, and his hand cupped the back of her slender neck, yanking her forward until her nose was just an inch away from his face.

"If I were you, I wouldn't push me too hard," he whispered.

Akane stared into those cold eyes and swallowed. She fought not to show fear, but failed. Her lashes fell, veiling her eyes, and she looked away, her throat suddenly dry.

But her newfound courage wouldn't let her lose completely. Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand against Ranma's chest and shoved, trying to release herself.

Ranma twisted deftly, so that he was now on top, his body covering Akane's slim figure.

"What did I just say?" he asked in a low, lethal tone. "About pushing me?" Anger filled him, but he was careful not to show. He only let cold purpose fill his eyes, and saw when Akane recognized it. She squirmed beneath him, bringing all his predatory instincts to life. Deep within Ranma, the geas, stronger now, recognized only that Akane was trying to escape it/him. The thought brought only fury.

She couldn't be allowed to escape. He/it had to prove his/its mastery over her, show her how completely impossible it was for her to leave. And trapped as she was, this was a perfect place to start.

Ranma moved his hand from her neck and threaded his fingers into her hair, still silky after days on the road. He gave into temptation and leaned in and breathed the scent deep. The light scent of her filled his lungs and he savoured it.

Akane tried to fight free. "What are you doing?" She demanded fearfully, mentally damning her earlier reckless words to hell. Why, oh why hadn't she let it rest? Why had she tried to kick him out of her bed? She was so close to the palace, just one day away, and close to freedom.

"I just want to remind you of how things stand, exactly," Ranma, spurred by the geas, muttered in her ear. "You seem to be getting the mistaken idea that I'm some kind of servant, or protector for you." He nibbled the small lobe of her ear, and smiled when she gasped. He licked the spot tenderly, and so distracted Akane that she didn't realize his other hand was climbing her ribs.

"No, I never thought…" Frantically, Akane wondered where this was going. She looked to her left, where the exit to the crawlspace lay. Did she dare call for help?

"That I'm some kind of...knight in shining armour?" Ranma began to place soft kisses against her neck. She was so soft and appealing. He'd kissed girls before Akane. After all, he wasn't completely isolated on Kulloden's island, but somehow Akane brought out an urge in him to kiss every last inch of her. The gentle sweep of her jaw, the line of throat, the rose of her lips, all captivated him.

With effort, he reminded himself of his original intent, and his hands grew less gentle, more demanding, creating an unexpected, restless heat within Akane. She bucked and twisted away, shaking her head in denial.

"Ranma…"Akane whispered, eyes closed. She couldn't escape him. He was taller than her, and lying down, his body covered hers completely. Her toes brushed his ankles. One of her legs was free. Raising it, she brought the back of her heel down sharply on Ranma's calf. He deftly pinned the leg with his own, trapping her even more effectively.

"I'm no knight, Akane. No archaic code of honour binds me. I'm your captor- the villain of the piece," he reminded her. "I can do whatever I want with you." To prove it, his fingers closed around her breast, eliciting a shriek from Akane that Ranma muffled with his hand before it could escape.

"Sssh, you don't want to wake your hosts, do you?" he murmured with a smile. "You'd have a lot of explaining to do about having a strange man in your bed."

Her frightened eyes stared at him over his palm, and Ranma felt a brief pang of guilt. But it was brief indeed. Living with Kulloden had washed away most of his softer sentiments, he told himself, and he had to prove to Akane that she couldn't gainsay him.

Softly, he began to stroke her breast, and Akane shut her eyes. She was frightened of this Ranma, the one with the cold grey eyes, but her body was responding to him anyway. She opened her eyes briefly, and was fascinated to see that Ranma's eyes had begun to change colour. They were almost smoky coloured, now, a blue-grey, framed by his long spiky black lashes.

"Are you going to be quiet?" he asked.

Akane nodded. What choice did she have? She had no illusion that Kasumi or Nabiki would be of any help, even if she did wake them. Ranma would no doubt dispatch them quite neatly. Not knowing the full extent to which the geas bound Ranma, she dared not test it here.

Ranma quirked his lips when he saw resigned understanding flow into Akane's eyes. He leaned down and his lips began to tug at her nipple through the thin material of her gown.

Akane's hand, trapped between them, curled into his shirt as her body began to enjoy what he was doing to it. Ranma's hand left her mouth and began to slide down her body. Reaching her legs, he found the high slit in her dress and slid his fingers in to rub against her warm flesh of her upper thigh. Akane jerked in shock at the contact, and her eyes flew to Ranma's.

"Fine," she gasped. "You've proved your point. I won't call for help, and I'm not going to disobey you any more. Please, Ranma, stop."

In the grip of desire, Ranma almost wanted her to continue to fight, but the geas had eased, satisfied, at her acquiescence. Still, educating Akane was a lot of fun. But she'd played by the rules. She'd acknowledged defeat. Still, maybe he could…rub it in a bit?

He moved his hand further up her thigh, and Akane squirmed against him.

"You can't do that!" she squeaked, trying to inch higher up the sheets, away from his hand.

"Can't…?" Ranm inquired politely. Akane realized her mistake, but she didn't know what to say to correct it.

"I'm glad you've realized the error of your ways," he purred, "but being the captor means I get to say when we stop."

He only took in Akane's stunned face for a second before he bent his head and kissed her, ravaging her mouth with stunning accuracy. Akane didn't dare fight him, her mind taken up with the bitter realization that Kasumi and Nabiki, far from helping her, were now effective hostages to her good behaviour.

The kiss was lazy now, almost challenging. Ranma's thumb was drawing small circles against her leg, and she moaned with the onslaught of feeling. Unconsciously, her body began to arch against his, and she was lost in a haze of unwilling pleasure.

Another low moan escaped her, and Ranma raised his head to smile down at her. The smile was slightly warmer now.

"Good night, Akane," he said, and slid to lie beside her. In the dark, Akane stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out what had happened. One moment he'd been kissing her, and now…?

"What…?" She began, but Ranma shushed her. "Sleep now," he said. She had little choice. Ranma's arm stayed snug around her waist, and she closed her eyes.

In the morning, Ranma was nowhere to be found when Akane woke up. She saw the rumpled blankets beside her, but that was the only evidence that Ranma had been there. That, and the feeling of lethargy that enveloped her.

Quickly, Akane climbed down the ladder and was met by a brisk Nabiki.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well? There's water outside for washing up. Kasumi heated some for you. Just walk around the corner of the cottage and you'll see it."

"Thank you." Eager to remove some of the grime of the road from herself, Akane accepted the towel and sliver of soap that Nabiki handed her, and made her way outside. It was early morning, and a cooler time of day.

Wondering where Ranma was, Akane went around the side of the cottage, and found a rickety old barrel standing half full next to a heated vessel of water. Sneaking quick peeks around, Akane shucked out of her gown and slipped into the barrel, sighing as the hot water covered her to the waist.

It was heaven.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Aack!" Akane crossed her arms over her breasts and spun around to see that Ranma had appeared out of nowhere. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here, practicing my invisibility," Ranma said, grinning at her obvious embarrassment. "Or rather, practicing my control, as it were."

Akane sank into the barrel so that only her head stuck out on top. "Go away, I'm washing up."

"No."

Akane glared at him. "Listen, Is aid I won't disobey you, but that doens;t mean you can violate my privacy completely, all right?" Brave words, but inside she trembled with an emotion she couldn't name.

Ranma must have seen it in her eyes, because he backed off. Somewhat.

"Fine, I'll turn my back," he said. "You can't stay out too long or Kasumi will come looking for you, and we need to talk."

Akane watched as Ranma turned his back, his tunic delineating the strong line of his shoulders well. His pigtail flopped halfway down his back.

She shrugged. He was right, they were short on time, and she wasn't going to give up this bath to save whatever tattered shreds of modesty she had left. She settled deeper into the barrel and began to scrub herself.

"All right, I'm listening," she said. "Talk."

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Please review! Then a new chapter will come out! Sooner!


	11. Prison without Bars

A/N: Hey, I'm updating again! Cool, no? And as one reviewer requested, I AM speeding up the plot a little. The next chapter should have things moving even faster! :)

DISCLAIMER: As you all know, Ranma and co. belong to their respective owners, who is NOT me.

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**Chapter 11 – Prison without bars**

"Welcome to my island," said the dark figure in a low, friendly voice that echoed eerily through the cavern.

Ryouga squinted as he walked deeper in, trying to focus his eyes in the dim light. "Who's that?" he demanded. "Are you Kulloden, the sorcerer?"

Laughter echoed through the cavern now. "It seems I'm famous," the voice exclaimed. "It's been my dream, I admit, but to be sought out on a deserted island…Who would have the _temerity_?" As the voice spoke, it got lower and angrier, until the last word was growled out with malice.

Ryouga refused to be deterred. "My name is Ryouga. I've come to you for help." The sorcerer was more visible now. He perched on an outcropping of rock like a baleful crow, his shiny fall of oil-black hair disappearing into his dark robes.

"Help?" Kulloden laughed again. "I…" Then he stopped. His head came up, and he sniffed. Again, long and deeply. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh….you have the stink of my boy about you. You've met my Ranma."

Ryouga frowned. "_Your_ Ranma? Your apprentice, you mean?"

"Of course, But so much more than that. Ranma, my hope. My…seed, you could say. Not my son, no, but he's definitely _mine_." Again that creepy intonation.

Ryouga shuddered. "Yes. I was looking for you, and I knew your damn apprentice was around. I can scent as well…in my other form."

Kulloden grinned down at Ryouga, making the were-boar feel irritated. His fists clenched.

"You've been cursed by Jusenkyou, have you? But how is this possible, dear boy? The Book of Jusenkyou was lost before you were born."

Ryouga snorted. "That's what YOU think."

The atmosphere in the cavern changed immediately. Kulloden sat up, all his formidable attention now focused on Ryouga who felt as though a heavy beam was weighing on him. The air grew charged, almost crackled.

"Boy," Kulloden murmured so softly that Ryouga's sensitive ears barely caught what he was saying. "Are you telling me you know where the Book of Jusenkyou is? If you lie about this…"

Ryouga snorted and crossed his arms. "You think I'm some dumb sapling that just grew out of the dirt? Think again, sorcerer. My Da lives on the palace grounds. I…" He cocked a thumb at his chest proudly. "…live on the royal grounds. I know what happened between you and Happosai."

A low growl issued from the sorcerer's pale mouth at the mention of that hated name, and his eyes grew flinty. For a moment, Ryouga felt apprehension.

"And what do you know, my fine young man?" Kulloden asked.

Ryouga looked defiant. "Well, it's common knowledge that you and Happosai battled it out seventeen years ago right in the palace throne room. Heard you nearly killed King Soun with that book of Jusenkyou but Happosai stepped in and stopped ya. And that the Book of Jusenkyou was lost in the fight. Heard it got majicked so no one could take it off the palace grounds. But it got turned missing."

"So the story goes," said Kulloden, rubbing his pointed chin thoughtfully. His dark eyes fixed on Ryouga. "Then how did YOU get cursed?"

Ryouga looked away, a scowl on his face. "Guess ol' Happosai was smarter'n you thought. He was friends with my Da, so when he found the book…"

"How?" Kulloden interrupted harshly, "HOW did he find the book?"

Ryouga shrugged. "Who knows? I wish it had stayed lost. But…" he paused, struggling to remember. "I think he…used some kind of…fishing line? He was laughin' about it with my Da, over a mug of beer, you know…"

Kulloden was deep in thought, ignoring Ryouga's rambling. "Fishing line? Did he? Damn him! He used a cursed subject to detect the book!"

"Yeah, something like that. Neeways, my Da's the head groundskeeper for the palace, and our cottage is where the book were hidden. I stumbled upon it accidentally as a kid."

Kulloden stood up and slipped off his perch, his face a mask of disbelief. "A groundskeeper's cottage? THAT's where the book is?"

"HEAD groundskeeper," Ryouga muttered, offended.

Kulloden turned his head. "Then why not ask Happosai to help you?"

Ryouga snorted again. "Happosai? No way! I hate him! I wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire! He thinks he's so special, and that people with no talent are just dirt beneath his heel."

"Ah, yes," Kulloden smiled. "My colleague did have a way about him." He began to laugh. "Unbelievable! Here I sent my most trusted lieutenant to find the Book of Jusenkyou when a groundskeeper's son shows up with the knowledge."

His eyes flared briefly, and Ryouga felt a spell wash over him. "You really do hate him," Kulloden said almost wonderingly. He began laughing again.

"You sent Ranma to get the book of Jusenkyou?" Ryouga asked. "But how's he gonna look for it with the princess Akane tagging along?"

"Yes, I've been keeping an eye on them," Kulloden's expression turned thoughtful. "It's not a well developed process. I can only spot them from afar, and see the path they are on. I didn't know they had met you."

"Yeah, I pretended not to recognize her. She didn't know me." Ryouga shuddered as he recounted the story of their meeting. "I nearly ate her."

Kulloden laughed. "That would have been a great pity. I have new plans for Akane, since she survived her first kidnapping."

He continued. "But you're wrong, Ryouga. Ranma is my emissary. He is going to the palace on a completely different errand. One even he does not know."

"Huh? What does that mean? So you've got someone else at the palace?"

"Yes, a doppelganger of the princess. She's there to find the book. In fact, I will now inform her of where the book is. And I suppose you want me to release you from your curse."

"Yes!" Ryouga's eyes lit up. "I'll do anything. I'll serve you for seven years if I have to. Just cure me!"

"It's not that easy, boy," Kulloden murmured. His eyes lit up. "Conversely it's quite easy after all. Well, I'll see what I can do to help you. For now, I must talk to Shampoo."

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Akane stared up at her home with tears in her eyes. It had only been some days since she'd seen the palace, but many times on her journey, she'd feared she'd never see the high, shining white walls again.

Mindful of her earlier conversation with Ranma, and also of the invisible apprentice hovering beside her, she turned to Kasumi.

"I'll find my way from here, Kasumi. Thank you so much for your help."

Kasumi smiled. "It was certainly pleasant having you to walk with on my way to work. Are you sure you wouldn't like me to show you where your friend Ukyou lives? The palace is very large, and strangers find it confusing."

Akane hesitated. There was a sharp pull on her chest.

"No, that's quite all right," she choked out, glaring up at Ranma. "I…would like to walk around the palace first. Just to have a look, you see."

_Get rid of Kasumi_, Ranma had said to her. _If you want to see her safe._

_She could be your sister! _Akane had hissed from the safety of her bath barrel.

Ranma snorted._ No way! They could be anybody's family. My only family is Kulloden._

_Even if he stole you from them_? Akane wanted to know. But Ranma turned away

Kasum smiled. "All right then. As I said, this is the wing where the princess lives, so Ukyou will be close by somewhere. I'll see you later."

Akane watched Kasumi leave quite sadly. There went her last ally, and now she was stuck with Ranma again. Ranma- sorcerer's apprentice, her jailor and tormentor.

Just when Akane thought she might be starting to understand him, or even get through to him somehow, that cold façade would come up again. Yet her body responded to him. She shoved the memory away forcefully.

Ranma was looking around, trying to catch a glimpse of Mousse. Once he spotted the boy, he would forcibly, finally, get this geas taken off him. The palace was busy, and people walked around them, intent on their various tasks and destinations. No one recognized the princess Akane in the tattered, shorn form of the young girl seemingly standing by herself, plotting how to escape.

I'm here! Akane told herself. But I'm more a prisoner now than I was at Kulloden's island. She wondered what to do. She was in a prison without bars.

Behind Akane, Ranma's eyes lit on a figure hurrying past them. He reached out and grabbed an arm.

"Shampoo!" he hissed.

Wide brown eyes turned, startled. 'Princess Akane' stood before him in her royal glory, astonished at hearing her true name spoken out loud. She saw nothing but the ragged Akane, who glared at her.

Then Ranma reappeared.

"Ranma?" she asked, astonished. "How did you…? Are you with Kulloden? Is he here? I found the book! It' was exactly where he told me it would be."

Ranma grabbed her and pulled her behind a pillar. "Shut up and listen, fool!" he said. Akane was startled to hear him use the same tone he used so frequently on herself.

"I'm in a big mess thanks to Happosai's meddling apprentice! I have to find him."

"Is this the princess?" Shampoo asked, peering at Akane with astonishment. "I thought she'd be dead. What on earth is she doing here? Why did you bring her to the palace of all…?"

Ranma clamped a hand over her mouth. "I don't have time for your foolish questions! Mousse placed a geas on the princess and me, bynding us together. I need him to take it off. Now where is he?"

"Mousse?" Shampoo hesitated as she digested what she'd heard. She didn't want to take Ranma to Mousse. She'd enjoyed the past few days she'd spent exploring magic in Mousse's company. Now, their façade would come apart. Ranma would kill or imprison Mousse.

"Yes, Mousse! Now take me to him before our master gets here!" Ranma grabbed Akane by the wrist and pulled her behind him, as Shampoo began to lead the way deeper into the palace.

"Mousse thinks I'm her, of course," Shampoo said, pointing her chin at Akane. The princess looked very different from the last time Shampoo had seen her. Her fine clothes were torn, and her soft skin was bruised and scratched. Her shorn hair curled in to her jawline. Also, there was something different in her eyes. It looked strangely like defiance.

Akane in turn watched Shampoo. She hadn't had much opportunity to examine her before, when things had happened so fast. It was amazing how exactly like Akane she looked, and sounded. Akane stared enviously at Shampoo's long dark hair, tresses she'd stolen from Akane, just as she'd stolen her life.

Finally, Shampoo stopped before a small wooden door, and knocked twice.

A head popped out, and examined them shortsightedly.

"Princess?" Mousse said, beginning to smile, and then Ranma released Akane's wrist, shoved Shampoo aside and strode through the entrance, catching Mousse up in a chokehold.

"You," he growled. "You and your _inept_ magic! Fix me! Now!"

"Who? Wha…?" Mousse struggled to understand what was going on, even as he fought for breath. A tall young man with furious blue eyes was throttling the life out of him, while Princess Akane stood to the side, watching anxiously but not lifting a finger to help Mousse. And another girl stood behind them, her gaze intent on him.

Finally Shampoo intervened. "Listen, Ranma, he won't be much help if you kill him! Stop that!"

"Princess, what's going on?" A bewildered Mousse asked Shampoo.

He was staring at the second girl now. She looked hauntingly familiar. She raised her face defiantly, and with a sick jolt, he saw that she was a twin of the Princess Akane.

"Who…?"

"I'm the real princess," she said. "Please, help me."

Stunned, Mousse looked from face to face. Finally, he recognized Ranma as well. "You're the sorcerer's apprentice!" He shouted. "From the cave! I killed you!"

"No," Ranma said. "You bound me to the closest person to me. That happened to be Princess Akane here."

The young man glanced at the ragged Akane, not the royal one. Mousse felt another sick jolt. With a heavy heart, he turned to Shampoo.

"Then, who are you?"

Shampoo looked away.

"You ain't got time to think about that, loverboy," Ranma snarled. "Break the geas or die."

Mousse stared at the real Akane, unable to believe it. Still, if it was true, being bound to this man wouldn't help her, and it seemed to have harmed her already.

He closed his eyes, and in his mind began to feel for the blue cord.

His eyes snapped open. "There are two geas," he said to Ranma.

"Yes yes, the second one ties me to my master. It's temporary," Ranma said impatiently.

Mousse shut his eyes and concentrated on the blue line tying Ranma and Akane together. Slowly, he began to unravel the strands, murmuring the words.

Within her, Akane felt a loosening, and finally something dissolved within her. It was a relief. Ranma felt the same, and could have crowed when it was done. Finally!!

Immediately, he was hit with a ball of green flame, and thrown across the room. He opened his eyes. Mousse had his hands up, and was forming another ball of fire.

Shampoo raised her hand and zapped him. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

Ranma shook off the pain and grabbed Akane's ankle as she ran for the door. "And where do you think you're going, princess?"

Akane tried to shake him off, but he pulled her to the floor and casually anchored her there with magic.

He shook his wrist. "Damn! It feels good to be able to do magic again!"

"Ranma!" Akane addressed him directly for the first time, and he turned to her. "Please, don't do this! You're a better person than your master! You don't have to do this. Please, leave me and my family alone!"

Staring down at her, something in Ranma softened and clenched for a second. But he hardened his heart. He bent down and grasped her chin with his fingers.

"Don't worry, princess. I won't kill you if you behave. When Kulloden takes over Nerima, I'll make sure I get to keep you. There are a few more lessons you could learn." He leered at her, and Akane wrenched her face away.

"Mousse will be missed if we do anything to him," Shampoo said in worried tone.

"Don't worry, your loverboy just needs the right motivation. Do you know any unused rooms?"

They secured Mousse. Ranma dragged Akane behind him as Shampoo led the way down steep, winding stairs. Finally, they came to a small locked wooden door. Shampoo muttered a word, and the door swung open.

Ranma pushed Akane inside, and followed. Within, the room was small and cramped, with only a tiny arrowslit for a window that allowed a small amount of light in. There was no way anyone could escape from there.

Ranma grunted with satisfaction. "This will do. We can't have two of you wandering around the palace."

With a spoken word, he produced rope and swiftly bound Akane's hands and feet.

"Let's go, Shampoo," he said. Then he winked. "I mean, Akane."

Shampoo gave Akane a last look, and followed Ranma out the door, leaving the true princess in tears, bound in captivity.

Back in the laboratory, they quickly wakened Mousse.

"Akane is our prisoner," Ranma told him coldly. "We can't afford to have you go missing right now, but say anything to anyone about us, and you will be responsible for her death. I also wouldn't suggest attacking us with magic. Shampoo and I are strongly shielded."

Mousse gulped. "I understand," he said, and raised himself from the floor, all the while eyeing the fake princess. Who was she? Her real name was Shampoo? What did she look like? Obviously, she was evil, he decided with regret. He'd really enjoyed her company.

Just then, a servant knocked hurriedly and burst in the door, barely noticing the other occupants. "Master! Master!"

"What is it?" Mousse asked tiredly.

"Great news, sir! Master Happosai has returned to the palace!"

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Okay, I think that was one of the longer chapters, so it deserves a good review! ;)


	12. Soul Stone

A/N: So here is chapter 12. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi holds the rights to Ranma and co.

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**Chapter 12**

Princess Akane Tendo tugged at her bonds hopelessly. The tears falling from her eyes did not help at all, blinding her so she couldn't see through them to the knots that bound her.

"Damn him!" she cried out loud. "Damn him, damn her, damn the sorcerer… Damn them all for doing this to me!"

Her chest was heaving from the force of her rage and her exertions, but the rope was as tight as ever. Akane sank back down to the floor, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling as she considered the events that had brought her here.

How she'd wanted to return to the palace, convinced that if she could just get within the walls of her lifelong home, everything would magically solve itself. She'd acted as though she were on some great quest with Ranma, a quest to reach the palace and save the kingdom.

But Ranma was the threat.

"Are you with Kulloden? Is he here? I found the book! It was exactly where he told me it would be." Shampoo's words rang through her mind.

What book were they talking about? Whatever it was, it sounded important. Would she get out of here before Kulloden arrived in the palace and destroyed her family?

She blinked her tears away and sat up with determination. She HAD to escape!

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The court was ablaze with excitement. Happosai, the court magician, was back! No one knew where he'd gone, because he came and went of his own will, and lately the majority of his time had been spent in his castle in another province entirely.

Mousse swallowed as he hurried past the servants and nobles trying to get a peek at Happosai. Ranma's words rang in his ears, a constant reminder.

"Akane is our prisoner. Say anything to anyone about us, and you will be responsible for her death."

Her death. The death of the royal princess. The girl he thought he'd spent the last few days with, only that Akane had been an imposter. Mousse gulped. He wondered where they had hidden the real Akane. It had to be in the castle. But looking for her would take too long. There had to be another way to defeat Ranma and…the other Akane.

No. Mousse paused. Her name was Shampoo. Ranma's cohort in crime. If only he'd known. If only. At least his unknowing geas had put a crimp in Ranma's plans. His mind spun with thoughts as he hurried down the hall.

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Ranma watched the sun shine through the trees, his elbows propped against the stone shelf of the window. Behind him, Shampoo tried to contact Kulloden mentally and tell him of their success.

It was his birthday, he remembered suddenly. He'd forgotten completely about it in the last few days. It was not something he celebrated as such. Instead this was the one day of the year he usually allowed himself to ruminate on what his parentage might have been, and what his parents were doing right now. Were they alive? Most probably they were dead. He'd certainly wished them that way many times.

But this year…his mind drifted back to the cottage on the beach. Tiny giggling Ayako came into his mind, and Kasumi and Nabiki sitting around their rough dining table with Akane…Was it possible they were his family in truth?

His eyes drifted to his partner. Or even Shampoo's? A sharp pain went through his chest, hurting him.

An even sharper pain seared through him, and he bent double with the pain. He groaned.

Shampoo's concentration broke. "Ranma! What's wrong?" Worried, she came over to him. Her worry puzzled him, Ever since he'd met up with her again, something seemed…different about her.

Not to mention the fact that she still looked like Akane annoyed the hell out of him. He didn't understand why. It was a necessary disguise after all.

"I…I'm fine." He straightened and moved away from her. "I'm fine!" he repeated harshly.

Shampoo recoiled slightly. _So different from Mousse_…she thought again.

"Well, I can't reach Master Kulloden," she said defensively. "Something is blocking me. It's a lot easier for him to contact me. We'll have to wait until he does. It shouldn't be long."

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In the dark, wet sea-cave, Ryouga eyed the sorcerer suspiciously. "What was going on just then? Your eyes rolled back in your head."

Kulloden laughed. "I don't normally do that. My apprentice, Shampoo, you see, she was trying to contact me. And I was blocking her."

"Huh? What's that? You were blocking her from trying to contact you?" Ryouga was confused.

"She's found the Book of Jusenkyou, thanks to you. She found it earlier than I expected, so I'm waiting for the other part of my plan to come into effect."

"Come and see," Kulloden beckoned. As Ryouga came closer, he saw a dull glow emanating from a small globe the sorcerer had placed in front of him. Kulloden was peering into the globe with satisfaction.

"Ranma is so predictable," he purred. "Look, Ryouga, look!"

Looking deep into the globe, Ryouga recoiled as he saw into it. Deep within the crystal, Princess Akane lay bound on a stone floor, tears running down her face.

"That's Princess Akane!" he exclaimed.

Kulloden whipped around. "How do you recognize her so easily, boy? She is rarely seen outside the palace."

Ryouga gulped. Kulloden's searching gaze was incisive. "I've seen her around the gardens. She and her maids used to come out for walks now and then. Me and the other gardeners would hide behind rosebushes and peek at them."

Kulloden laughed. "Ah, I see. Very enterprising of you." He returned his attention to the globe and began to create arcane gestures with his long, thin fingers.

"When Ranma and Akane were tied together, their geas gave me some opportunities." He began to chant, in a low voice.

"Akane, remember your dream, Akane?"

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Akane was on the beach again, drawing pictures in the sand with her wooden stick. But the pictures meant something. They were runes. They could be spoken out loud. Her fingers could make those shapes.

As she drew them into the sand, it was as though each symbol was being etched into her brain.

Escape. Akane awoke with a gasp, tried to stand up, and fell over painfully when her bonds stopped her.

Escape. The runes she had dreamed days ago, and again just now, blazed with meaning. It was a spell to escape.

Akane began to chant out loud.

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"Master! Master Happosai!" Mousse tried to shove his way through the final group of courtiers standing in his way, desperate now to reach his master. Happosai would fix everything. Finally, he shoved the last couriter out of the way, and looked down.

Reaching barely to Mousse's knees, Master Happosai, magician of the Nerima court, grinned up at his protégé.

"Mousse!" he cried in delight. Dressed in rich robes, his white hair sticking out in all directions, he was a sight for sore eyes. To Mousse anyway.

"Master! I'm so glad to see you!" Mousse cried, and fell to his knees in front of Happosai.

"Why, what's the matter, Mousse?" Happosai cupped the smooth cheek of his student, his genial face creasing with concern. "I'm barely back in the palace a few minutes, and you descend on me like an eagle! What's going on?"

And Mousse didn't dare to tell him.

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Akane could feel the ropes loosening. She couldn't believe it was actually working. She chanted faster, the runes glowing in her mind. The ropes uncurled from her ankles and wrists, and fell to the floor.

Akane wanted to draw breath for ashout of triumph, but she dared not stop. She wasn't out of the woods yet. She stood and rubbed circulation back into her arms and legs, chanting all the while, focusing her magic on the door.

There was a click, and the door swung open.

Jubilant, Akane stepped up to it silently, and peered out. No sign of Ranma or Shampoo. Quickly, she slipped out of the cell and into the corridor.

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"You let her escape," Ryouga gawped. "She's going to spoil everything!"

Kulloden laughed a great booming laugh. "Hahahaha, no, my boy, that's the thing. She is the key."

Ryouga watched in puzzlement.

"Wait and see," the sorcerer advised.

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There was a knock at Shampoo's door, and Ranma barely had a chance to throw himself into the spacious closet before the door was flung open.

"Your highness!" A lady-in-waiting burst in. "The Queen, your mother, requires your presence immediately!"

"Why? What is it?" Shampoo asked, startled at the haste.

"Master Happosai is returned to the palace, and the Queen is going to see him shortly. You must join her."

Shampoo cast a quick glance at the closet where Ranma was hidden, along with the Book of Jusenkyou. At this important point in their plans, she didn't want to be separated from him, but it looked as though she had no choice.

She followed the girl out the door.

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Mousse was desperately trying to figure out how to tell his master that the princess and in fact, the whole palace, was in grave danger, without further endangering the princess' life.

But it seemed as though everyone had come out to meet Happosai. Courtiers and nobles swarmed around him. Even Prince Kunou was there. Lofty as the spoiled prince was, even he respected Happosai. Only the King and Queen were missing.

Just then, they appeared in the archway entrance to the hall, together. Mousse stared, stunned. Behind them walked Princess Akane. Not the fake one, but the real, tattered one. How had she escaped?

And, even more unbelievably, behind the Queen stood the other Princess Akane, looking furious and shaken.

"Master…" he said urgently, but was interrupted when King Soun swiftly moved forward, his face a thundercloud. He was pulling Akane behind him like wayward child. Another guard escorted the second, better dressed 'princess Akane' more gently down the aisle.

Shampoo was stewing. When she got to the royal apartments, she'd found the King, Queen and Akane waiting for her. The King and Queen couldn't believe their eyes, but neither did they know which was the real Akane.

They asked both girls all sorts of questions, but the spell ensured that Shampoo's lips answered the questions as well as Akane did. Their birthmarks were identical. In fact, the real Akane now spoke in a way they had never heard her speak, so they were more suspicious of her. Shampoo would have smiled at Akane's frustration if she weren't so scared of being found out. They were so close!

The royal couple was baffled. What to do? Finally, Soun remembered something.

"Happosai," intoned King Soun, and everyone around them, including Mousse and Happosai, bent a knee to the king.

"Majesty," Happosai greeted him.

"You have come at a most opportune time, my friend," the king said. "Rise, and give me counsel."

"Yes, Majesty?" Happosai rose, looking puzzled.

King Soun jerked the tattered girl behind him forward, as though reluctant to touch her.

"Who is this?" he asked.

Happosai peered closely. "Why, it appears to be the Princess Akane," he said with great astonishment.

"Yes, it does appear so, doesn't it?" King Soun said. "And who is this?" He gestured to Shampoo.

Happosai appeared even more more astonished, his big eyes bugging out. "It is also Princess Akane!" he exclaimed.

Around them, the crowd began to buzz with shock and disbelief.

"This one…," King Soun pointed at the ragged Akane, "tells me a most remarkable story about doppelgangers and spells. But only you can solve it."

"How would you like me to do that, Majesty?" Happosai enquired, still dividing his gaze between the two girls.

King Soun took a deep breath. "I hope you have the soul stone," he said.

The soul stone? Still kneeling, Mousse wracked his brain for the meaning of it. What on earth was the soul stone? Slowly, his memory awoke and he began to remember something he'd studied…dimly….

"The soul stone of the Tendos?" Happosai asked, curiously.

"No, the soul stone of the Saotomes! Of course…" King Tendo stopped, and shook his head slowly. "Saotomes…I haven't thought of them in so long…I…" He shook his head again. "Now is not the time. Come, Happosai, have you the stone or not?"

Happosai smiled. "Certainly, Majesty. But er, I have just arrived from travel. Good knows where I pack these things…" He began to root through the various pockets of his voluminous robes.

Akane, still in her father's harsh grip, waited with bated breath. She remembered the soul stone slightly more clearly. It was an ancient tradition of the Tendos. A stone was spelled to recognize those with royal Tendo blood, and was used at the birth of princes and princesses to ensure the bloodright.

But it _was_ an ancient tradition. It hadn't been used for decades. Did Happosai have it? It seemed so. The old sorcerer finally pulled out a blue velvet bag, from which he drew out a scarlet stone that shone brightly.

The crowd gasped.

"It reacts to you, Majesty, because you are so close to it." The magician said. Soun moved away, and the light dimmed somewhat. Happosai covered the stone, and muttered a spell over it. "So it doesn't react to you or the Queen, or Prince Kunou," he said.

He looked up at the two Akanes. "Now ladies, come stand before me."

The guard pushed the two young women to stand before Happosai. From his kneeling point, Mousse sighed with relief. At last, Shampoo would be found out, and everything would be all right. He wondered why his heart gave a tiny twinge at the thought.

Outside the hall, at a different entrance, Ranma peered at the crowd in the Great Hall.

"What's going on?" he wondered. "Is all this to greet Happosai?" He listened carefully as the figures spoke, and was chilled when he learned Shampoo had been captured.

Damn it! She was vital to the plan. Her skill was the one that could contact Kulloden, not him! He needed to free her.

"Who wants to go first?" Happosai asked.

Shampoo was almost dead with fear, and busy wondering when Kulloden might show up, so Akane stepped forward with no dissent. Ranma crept closer into the room, and saw her over the heads of the crowd. He wondered how she'd escaped, but there were other things to think about now.

"Me! Me first! Please," Akane begged.

"All right," Happosai said, and raised the stone as high as he could, which was on level with Akane's chest. He uncovered it.

The stone sparked slightly, hesitantly. Akane held her breath.

Then the stone went dead.

Akane and Shampoo stared at the stone in disbelief.

"No," Akane whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. "No, its…"

Happosai looked up at her, his face serious. "You are not a Tendo," he said.

She must be caught in some kind of nightmare. Akane felt the ground falling away from her. Her head spun. Nonononononononononono………..

Ranma crept farther into the hall, trying to figure out a way to snatch Shampoo. He would have to use his magic of course, but with Happosai there, he had to be very, very careful. He looked away from the spectacle, and began to think.

Akane barely heard as Happosai tested the stone on Shampoo. The test was negative there as well…causing great consternation among the onlookers. _Neither_ of the girls were the princess.

"Then where is the real princess?" Soun demanded, worry in his voice.

Happosai was about the reply when the stone began to brighten again, slowly, faintly.

"Ah, it's responding again!" The magician exclaimed.

Akane's head shot up. Had it malfunctioned? That must be it! But…Happosai was pointing the stone away from her. The diminutive magician began to walk forward, and the stone began to pulse more strongly. The crowd stood and parted before him as he walked.

Mousse stood as well, watching. Shampoo and Akane, numb, watched as well.

Happosai walked with the stone, and Soun followed. More and more peopleparted, and the stone shimmered.

Happosai stopped. The stone was almost blinding in its brilliance now, and by its light Happosai made out a tall young man, black haired and blue eyed, his face stamped with the features of the Tendo kings.

The young man, boy really, stared down at him, uncomprehending.

"Highness," Happosai said, and sank down to one knee.

Unable to refute the evidence of the glittering stone, most of the rest of the crowd bent their knee as well, even though they had no idea in hell who this person was.

"Ranma?!" Akane and Shampoo breathed together.

Shampoo felt the plan unraveling as she stood there. What was going on? How did Ranma suddenly become a prince of the Tendos? And where was Kulloden to help them? Or at least answer some questions.

"I'm not…"Ranma said jerkily.

"The stone doesn't lie," Happosai said calmly.

Ranma's eyes flew first to Akane, who looked stunned. He didn't understand what was going on, but he was sure as hell determined to figure it out.

"He's of my blood?" King Soun asked faintly.

"He is of your seed," Happosaid said bluntly.

"My…son?" Soun looked poleaxed. "How can this be? I've never cheated on my wife. Where did he come from? Is Kimiko his mother?"

"We can discover the details later," Happosai said. "For now..ahem…"

Soun looked around at the crowd. "You are all dismissed. Guards, gather up those girls and take them to the royal apartments. We'll figure this out." He turned to Ranma. "Young man, what is your name?"

"Ranma," answered the possessor of the name somewhat dazedly.

"Follow me, Ranma."

Prince Kunou watched them go with stunned eyes, then raced after the party as the rest of the crowd dispersed to talk excitedly about what had happened.

In the royal apartments, Soun and his queen brought the entire party into their large receiving room, and ordered wine for themselves and Happosai.

"Is he my son?" Kimiko asked, looking at Ranma. "But how could I not know? And where is dear Akane?"

"There is only one thing to be done to divine the truth," Happosai said. "I must cast a vision."

There was a collective gasp around the room. Casting a vision was highly dangerous, and often put the spellcaster's life in jeopardy if not done correctly. Only very experienced mages could even attempt it.

"Master, that's too dangerous!" Mousse protested.

"Hush, boy," Happosai admonished him. "The truth is more important." He turned to the King. "Be on your guard. After the vision, I may faint, and be unable to protect you. Guards, watch the King and Queen!"

Happosai knelt and drew a circle on the floor with a piece of chalk. Then he began to chant.

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"Now is the moment I must grasp!" Kulloden said. He stood up and made a swift gesture. A hole appeared in the air, and he stepped through it.

Ryouga watched as the hole began to close. "You won't leave me behind that easily, sorcerer!" he said, and jumped through the hole.

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Happosai had been chanting for a while now, and sweat was beading his forehead. But eventually, his efforts began to bear fruit. The circle faded to grey, and then brightened, showing a scene in a room.

A dark haired young woman lay panting on a small wooden bed. Beside her, another, older woman crouched, holding a bundle.

"My baby," the woman in the bed gasped. "Please, show me my baby."

Queen Kimiko gasped. "That's Lady Saotome! She was in childbirth! I never knew!"

"Don't worry yerself, my lady," the older woman was saying. She was leaving the room. "I'll wash yer babe and bring it back safe and sound."

She left the room and swiftly exited the small cottage. With a start, Akane recognized the cottage as belonging to Kasumi and Nabiki. The woman made her way up a bluff, to where a cloaked figure was waiting.

"Here she is," the woman muttered. "Take her."

"And here is your payment," said a voice that Ranma and Shampoo both recognized immediately. Even Akane remembered the oily voice from the cave she'd been imprisoned in. Kulloden.

Swiftly, he slit the neck of the startled serving woman. Everyone in the room grimaced. He swept away with the bundle, from which loud cries were emerging. Thunder crashed through the skies, and rain began to pour.

The scene changed to the palace. A much younger King Soun paced his room, muttering to his valet.

"The doctor's been in there for an hour! Why do these things always take so long?"

"That was the night Akane was born!" The king whispered.

The shadow slipped past the King's guards and entered the Queen's bedchamber. The women in there were snoozing, their heads bent forward on their chests.

The shadow slipped a white-clothed bundle from the cradle, and replaced the first bundle within.

"Have a nice life, princess," he said.

He looked at the white clothed bundle in his arms. "And you, my prince, will come with me."

"So neither Akane ever was a Tendo," Happosai said, as the screen faded to grey again. He turned to the King.

"Ranma here is the true prince, stolen from his cradle the night he was born. Akane…has always been a Saotome."

Ranma watched with dawning awe. HE was the true prince of Nerima. How could it be? He was just an orphan. He was planning to take over the palace, for goodness' sake! Could he still let that happen? And what loyalty did he owe these people? And..Akane! How was she taking all this?

Akane felt her world shatter. Her mind raced back to the moment outside the cottage with the Saotome sisters. She'd felt so close to them, wondering if they were Ranma or Shampoo's family. Instead, they were her own.

They were Akane's sisters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, long chapter no? As you can see it really is getting close to the end. A couple more chapters, and this story should be done! :)


	13. The Final Trap

A/N: Hm, just to answer a few of the reviews…

ranmachick01: I don't know if there'll be any lemons. The story's almost over, so, I don't know..but there might be.

ranmakane-4ever: Glad you guessed. I actually didn't, until later, which is weird. I know.

Prizz : Well, it looks like there will be at least ONE more chapter. I'm posting this today in celebration of Baby Chanel updating her Ranma fic "The War of Two Families". Check it out!

Gemini310 : After reading your review, I do agree with you..I didn't like making Ranma a Tendo in the first place…seems so wrong…But after noticing all the other glaring flaws no one has pointed out yet, I think I will make minor changes to the story after it's finished. Thank you very much for the CC!

Hououza : hehe, actually only the Tendos had a soul stone. The King was being sarcastic.

Oyuki : Happy belated Birthday! I'm glad you felt for poor Akane, finding out Ranma the jerk is stealing her place!

Everyone else who reviewed, thanks so much for the reviews! I read 'em all twice:) Okay, on to the story.

DISCLAIMER: Of course I don't own Ranma and co.! Somebody else does.

-

**Chapter 13**

Akane was miserable. Grief wrenched at her heart, and sobs wracked her body as she rocked herself, imprisoned high up in a stone room deep in one of the palace towers. She was seated on the grey brick balcony that opened from the room, a respectable option given to those prisoners who didn't want to face the hangman's rope.

The moment when the soul stone of the Tendos had failed to glow kept running through her mind.

After the revelation, Happosai and the king and queen had conferred. Since they still couldn't tell which Akane was the real one, they'd decided to place Akane and Shampoo under 'room arrest'.

Still in shock, Akane had stared at them blankly, a look very similar to the one Shampoo was wearing.

Queen Kimiko looked from one of them to the other, wondering which one was the daughter she had raised for 16 years.

"Akane," she said. She looked between them again.Identical. "Whichever one of you IS Akane. We'll sort this out. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen to you. I…I wish I could tell you more, about your birth…I know you must have so many questions, but…Until I can be sure which of you…" She turned her head, unable to look at them any longer. "Take them away," she told the guards.

So Akane and Shampoo had been taken to the west tower, where prisoners were held. Each of them had been escorted into a different room. Still numb with shock, Akane had walked out of her room onto the stone balcony and climbed up to sit on the cold, stone window seat.

She raised her pink and teary face. It seemed as though all she'd done since getting back to the palace had been cry.

From Akane's perch, she could see the kingdom spread out on all sides, the view breathtaking. But Akane couldn't care less. None of it was hers, after all. Well, she'd never been in line to inherit the throne, which was Kunou's by right, but she had thought her parents were the king and queen, and that her ancestors had ruled this land.

Instead, they were…fisherfolk?

Where was Ranma, she wondered? He'd been standing next to Happosai when she left, looking stunned. No doubt congratulating himself on his sudden good fortune.

Or was it so sudden? Akane raised her head. It seemed too fortuitous that the very man who had kidnapped her and then dragged her to the palace would turn out to be the royal prince.

Had the geas been a ruse? Was Mousse a traitor?

But no. Akane cast her mind back to the last few days. Ranma had been furious about the geas. And irritated at having to go to the palace. He'd had some other plan entirely in mind for her. No, his surprise at the geas was genuine.

Akane wiped her eyes and puzzled over this new conundrum. In her mind, she played over again the scenes that Master Happosai had shown them. It had been Kulloden, she remembered, who switched her and Ranma as infants. She was the changeling, the intruder in the palace. She had no right to be here. She should be living in that cottage, with Kasumi and Nabiki. She wished she were back there again.

So….if Ranma didn't know he was the prince, it was unlikely that Shampoo did either. From what little Akane had seen of the sorcerer, Kulloden didn't seem like the sort of man who would trust a lackey, even an apprentice.

Yet what REASON did he have for kidnapping Ranma? What was so special about royal blood that he needed Ranma as an apprentice? Surely, there were other citizens in the city who had magical ability! Unless Shampoo was royalty as well.

Akane snorted at the thought.

She heard the locks to her room begin to unlatch, and turned her head. Someone was coming in. Curious, she slipped off her perch and walked back into the room, wondering who her visitor might be. Her father, or mother, perhaps?

A guard knocked and then poked his head in. "Lady," he said, "His Highness, Prince Kunou wishes to see you."

Kunou. Hope and dread filled Akane all at the same time. Her older brother, the crown prince. Tall, with wavy dark hair, and a look in his brown eyes when he watched Akane when he thought she wasn't looking. It was a look that made Akane wish she were more covered up. And the things he sometimes said to her…lightly, mockingly, as though he were teasing, yet underneath Akane had the feeling he was in deadly earnest.

But she wasn't exactly the same timid Akane she'd been when she'd left on her voyage. And Kunou might help to free her from here.

"All right," she said. "Let him in." She smoothed down her ragged dress and waited.

Kunou walked in, looking dashing as usual in his blue superfine coat with gold edging and black breeches, his boots shined to a sharp polish.

"Hello, Akane," he said, and walked forward, invading her space until she had to step back or have him stamp on her toes. His greater height forced her to look up at him. Seeing him here brought back her memories in detail, and she cringed slightly.

Kunou's sharp gaze caught the action, and he spotted the not-quite hidden fear in her eyes.

"It IS you," he breathed. "I knew it. I knew it, Akane!" He grabbed her hands and raised them to his chest.

"H…how can you be so sure?" she asked.

"I can tell it when you look at me," he replied. "You _recognize_ me. The other one doesn't."

Hope filled Akane. "Really?" she asked, taking a step forward. "Then you'll vouch for me? I don't want to be stuck in this room! I want to go out and…and solve this thing! It's awful that I'm not really the princess but…"

"Are you joking? It's the best thing that's happened all day!" Kunou blurted, and stopped when he saw Akane's shocked, hurt gaze. She tried to pull away from him.

"Why…?" she asked.

Kunou's eyes glittered. "Don't you know how beautiful you are, Akane? Of course I'll free you. But now, you do realize that…you're not my sister, and…"

Akane's heart started to pound as a dim feeling of terror overtook her. She felt as though she were suffocating.

"What are you saying, Kunou?" she asked, trembling.

"I've always adored you, dear Akane," Kunour purred. "My feelings for you…have always been of a strong nature. And now, now we can be together…You'll be mine, won't you, dear Akane? Say it, say it and I'll have you released right away!"

A black fog appeared before Akane's eyes, and she would have sank into a swoon if Kunou had not been holding her upright. She definitely did not want to faint into his arms.

"Kunou, it's impossible! I grew up as your sister…" she murmured in shock.

"It's right! It's a sign!" he proclaimed.

"It's wrong before man and God…"

"But we're not related!" Kunou shouted. "Don't you see? It's perfect! All these years…"

Akane dragged her hands from his and clamped them over her ears. She did NOT want to hear what he had been thinking all these years. Her childhood would be ruined.

"No!" she shouted. "I could NEVER see you that way! Get out!"

Kunou's expression grew ugly. He began to advance. "Darling Akane, you haven't thought this through. Where will you go? After 16 years of luxury, do you want to live as a pauper? An orphan? Be mine, and I'll see to your every want. You can keep living in the palace. Nothing will have to change."

"Even if I have to work as a drudge on the palace steps, I could never be yours!" She shouted, her eyes clenched shut.

Kunou grabbed her by the arms, and forced her chin upwards with his fingers. His mouth descended. "One way or the other," he gritted out. "You WILL be mine."

"Never!" Akane screamed, and slapped him with all the force in her frail frame. He actually rocked back a few steps, his hand raised to the darkening bruise on his cheek.

"Guard! Guard!" she screamed hysterically, sobbing. Guards rushed in, took one look at them, and began to usher a furious Prince Kunou out.

"Be calm, my lord," they said. "The king requires minimal contact with the prisoners. You'll have to leave now."

"One way or the other, mark my words," Kunou hissed on his way out, leaving a shaken Akane to collapse bonelessly onto the floor.

-

In another part of the palace, Ranma- now Prince Ranma- sat bewildered and befuddled on a chair, as Happosai and the king fired questions at him.

"Who raised you? How have you been living? What do you know about us? Where have you been staying? Who is your guardian?"

"Can he even speak? He's been silent ever since we discovered him," King Soun fretted.

The plan has gone so wrong! Ranma silently lamented. We were supposed to conquer this kingdom with the Book of Juesnkyou. But now they want to make me their…son…..I wish Kulloden was here to sort this out. What was he upto all these years? How was Akane, he wondered. Was she all right? And Shampoo? She must be as confused as him. What in all hells was going on? Since when was he the prince? It had to be some trick.

Ranma clamped his mouth shut and glared at Soun and Happosai. The magician sighed.

"We are not your enemies, boy," he said. "You are among friends…and family here."

Ranma kept glaring, hiding his confusion.

-

The door was unlocking again. Akane looked up, and began backing away. Was it Kunou again?

A dark head popped around the door. Akane stared.

"Mousse? What are you doing here?"

"Hello, princess…ah, Akane," he began uncertainly.

Akane sighed. "Just call me Akane. That's all I'm entitled to, anymore."

"I've um...come to rescue you," he said. He didn't offer any explanation on how he recognized Akane, and she didn't think to ask, in her hurry to escape.

"Really?"Akane jumped up. She didn't wait for further explanation. She didn't really understand everything that was going on, but she sure wasn't going to unravel it by staying here. She slipped through the door, and paused.

Unconscious guards lay sprawled in the corridor. She glanced at Mousse, who blushed.

"Quickly! Help me move them into the room," was all she said.

-

Shampoo paced the floor of her prison. Oh yes, they had said she was under 'room arrest', whatever that was, and they certainly hadn't tossed her into the dungeons, but that was only until they figured out which Akane was which.

And she wasn't. If only this room wasn't impervious to magic, she would have spelled her way out by now.

_Master! Can you hear me? Help us! _She tried her mind call once more.

"Not so loud, you fool! You have practically deafened me." Kulloden's dry voice came from the door to her room. Startled, Shampoo spun around, and saw the dark, thin form of her master holding the door open.

"Master! You're here!" Overjoyed, she could barely keep from hugging him, but Kulloden was not a man who permitted displays of affection.

"YES, of course I'm here, where _else _would I be?" He hissed, entering the room.

Shampoo paused. "Master, our plan failed. Of all things, some spelled stone recognized Ranma as the true prince of Nerima. It seems Akane is not really the princess!" She paused to savour this thought. She'd always hated the little bitch.

"You only think my plan failed, Shampoo," Kulloden said, maliciously. "As usual, your feeble brain cannot encompass my genius…the plans I carefully put into action."

"Ah, that's right." Shampoo suddenly remembered. "YOU stole Ranma. You switched the babies. Why, Master?"

Kulloden moved forward, smiling. Neither of them saw the shadow that flickered momentarily outside the open door.

"You see, dear Shampoo, you were but a distraction. Of course I wanted the Book of Jusenkyou, and shortly you will lead me to it. However, the grimoire is only a weapon to cement my grip on this kingdom. The true source of my power in Nerima will be...Ranma." Kulloden paused to check Shampoo's reaction.

She looked confused. Kulloden laughed a long, rolling laugh.

"It's quite amusing, really. The geas that Mousse placed on Ranma is nothing compared to the geas I have placed on him. No, not just the geas between sorcerer and apprentice, like we share, but a true geas of power that matures on his sixteenth birthday. And if I'm not mistaken, that day is…today!" Kulloden grinned with glee.

"But what does this geas do?"

"Think, fool! He is a prince of the blood. After today, Ranma will be mine to control forever! Through him, the kingdom will be mine. And with the Book of Juesnkyou beside me, not even Happosai can stop me!"

Shampoo paled. It was a daring plan, she had to agree. What forethought and caution he must have used, to plan all this sixteen years ago! She had to admire his mind. And yet, some part of her felt disquieted.

"And why use Akane, of all people?" she asked. "I saw the vision. She's just some fisherman's baby."

Kulloden lost his grin. "No, she's not. Nevertheless, I've told you enough for now. Take me to the Book."

They slipped from the room and Shampoo led the way down the steep steps of the tower. Eventually, they came down onto a landing, and followed a corridor down to another set of stairs that finally led down to the base of the tower.

From there, they used magic to cloak themselves, and swiftly made their way to Shampoo's room, where Shampoo pulled the book from her closet. Kulloden snatched it from her hands.

"At last! At LAST!" Kulloden crowed, his hands grasped firmly about the Book of Jusenkyou, the grimoire he'd been searching for, for years. His eyes glittered with manic delight.

"Who are you?"

Startled, the sorcerer spun around to see a puzzled Kunou standing in the doorway.

"Prince Kunou," he purred.

Kunou frowned as he looked beyond and saw the fake Akane. Akane's face on a different girl only angered him.

"What are you doing here, imposter? You were locked up!" he cried.

Kulloden marched swiftly up the prince, and handed him the Book.

"Read this, my prince, it will explain everything," he promised.

Bemused, Kunou took the book from Kulloden's hands. It fell open in his hands to a page, and he began to read. The book grew heavier and heavier in his hand, until suddenly his world tilted.

Shampoo looked astonished. Kulloden merely looked satisfied. He reached out and squashed between his fingers the fly that had just a few seconds ago been Prince Kunou.

Shampoo grimaced. She thought she was going to be sick.

"And that, my dear, is the power of Jusenkyou," Kulloden said.

-

Akane finally remembered to ask Mousse as they were crawling on their hands and knees through a hidden passage in the tower to avoid soldiers.

"How did you know I was…ppbbbt..the real Akane?" she asked, as she shoved a cobweb out of her face.

In front of her, Mousse stopped crawling and turned a red face to Akane. "Promise you won't hit me? It's because you have short hair, remember?"

"Oh! Doh!" Akane smacked herself for forgetting. Not that that would prove anything totheir Majestiesbut… "It would have helped if you would have told the King and Queen that," she said.

"Yes, I…only thought of it later," he lied. The truth was he had known Shampoo was safe as long as she hid under the guise of Akane. Once they discovered the truth, who knew what they would do to her? But his guilty conscience had forced him to rescue the real Akane, anyway.

"Well, now you can explain it to my par…uh, their Majesties," Akane sadly amended.

"Yes, of course," Mousse agreed. Perhaps he could plead on Shampoo's behalf.

They continued on.

-

Happosai and the King had given up on Ranma for now and moved away slightly to talk between themselves.

Ranma wondered what to do.

"Hey, boy, hold it right there!" The guards in the room came to attention as a young man charged into the room. Spears shot up in guard position, preventing him from approaching the King, Happosai or Ranma.

"Ryouga?" Ranma was surprised into saying.

Happosai cast him a sharp glance. "So you can talk. Good, I was starting to think you were mute."

Ranma blushed.

Ryouga stumbled to a stop and knelt down on one knee. "Your Majesty," he said, bowing. "Master Happosai. I've come to report on my mission."

"Yes, Ryouga?" Happosai asked, moving forward, and waving the guards' spears away.

"You know Happosai?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Ryouga said simplyand repeated,"I've come to report on my mission."

"And what do you have for us?" Happosai asked.

"I've discovered Kulloden's plan, milord."

Happosai's eyes glittered. "You don't say. You ARE a smart boy. Pray, continue." He clapped for wine, seeing the tiredness in Ryouga's eyes.

"It's worse then we thought. Kulloden has placed a geas on Ranma. A lifetime geas that will go into effect forever today. Kulloden means to control Ranma as a puppet prince, and through him, rule Nerima."

"Lies!" Ranma leapt to his feet, enraged. "My master would never do such a thing! You're lying, Ryouga!"

"I overheard him explaining it to Shampoo," Ryouga said, pity in his eyes. "Yes I know her name, Ranma. And you know why today is the day your geas comes into effect? It's because that's what it's supposed to do on your sixteenth birthday. That's today, isn't it?"

He saw the sudden pale look on Ranma's face, and grinned humourlessly. "Happy birthday, my prince." He took the cup of wine from the server and downed a mouthful.

Happosai was frowning, turning the information around in his head. "But Kulloden knows that Kunou is the crown prince, and that Ranma won't…" He turned white, and exchanged a look of dread with the King. "He's planning to assassinate Kunou."

"Find Prince Kunou!" The King shouted. "Find him and keep him safe under guard. Check everywhere!"

Guards clattered out the door. The King sat down with his head in his hands.

Happosai turned to Ranma. "Ranma, please understand. From what Ryouga has told us, when the clock strikes midnight, Kulloden will have complete mastery over you. You have nothing to fear from us. Please, let us help you."

Ranm hung his head, still unable to believe it. Pain wracked his chest. Then another shooting pain went through him, making him cry out. He checked it with his sorcery. It wasn't coming from anyone in the room, but within himself.

Happosai took a step forward. "Oh no," he said. "Has this happened before? It's a sign that your geas is growing stronger."

It had happened before, Ranma remembered, earlier, in Shampoo's room. He gasped with pain, and finally he believed.

"I'll tell you," he said.

-

Well, there you have it:) One more chapter, and then an epilogue, I think. We'll see how it goes. Review, if you want an update:)


	14. Confrontation!

A/N: I keep thinking I'm going to finish this story within a chapter, but there's always more. Anyway, I'm really nearly at the end now. Yay! Thanks to all you people who kept encouraging me:)

DISCLAIMER: Ranma and Co. don't belong to me. I'm only playing with them.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 14**

"We're here," said Mousse, and studied Akane with concern. They were hiding in one of the dusty secret corridors that riddled the palace. The ex-princess was staring out the secret entrance that led into the Queen's apartment with trepidation. Mousse studied her profile, so dear to him after days of spending time with Shampoo. But it was a different person under the skin. Even knowing that, his heart still experienced a pang. What would become of Shampoo, he wondered?

Unaware of Mousse's nostalgic perusal of her, Akane peeked out through the eyeholes set in the wall. She could see the Queen seated at the fire, a warm rug tucked around her shoulders. She appeared to be asleep, her head canted forward so that her chin touched the collar of her dress.

Akane gathered her courage and pushed open the door. "Mother?" she murmured, stepping in.

The Queen looked up, startled. She saw the two unbidden visitors and drew breath to scream.

"It's me!" Akane whispered urgently. "Akane."

The Queen sat forward. "Really? How can you prove that? Both Akanes answer all the questions I put to them."

Akane moved forward, tears welling in her eyes. "Mother, look at me." She stood in front of the Queen, looking down at her. The Queen blinked. Akane sank to her knees, so that the Queen could see her upraised face clearly.

"It's ME. It's Akane. Don't you recognize me?" Akane willed the only mother she had ever known to really see her, to see past the doubts, to recognize her, even if she wasn't her daughter by blood.

The Queen searched Akane's face keenly. Her eyes widened and she clasped Akane's shoulders. "Akane! It IS you! Oh, my child!" She swept Akane up into her embrace, and Akane fell weeping into her mother's arms, her troubles laid to rest for a moment.

Mousse stood apart from them, uncomfortable with the scene, knowing he could have brought about this reconciliation a lot quicker if only he'd spoken up. Guilt turned his face red.

"And who is this young man, who appears to be aiding you?" The Queen looked up at Mousse, who came forward and immediately bent his knee and made obeisance.

"Your Majesty," he murmured.

"This is Mousse, mother. He is Happosai's assistant," Akane explained. "He's been a big help to me."

"Please rise, Mousse," Queen Kimiko said warmly. "I thank you for my daughter's safety." She turned to Akane. "Now tell me, daughter, where have you been? What's happened to you, and what do you know about…Ranma?"

Akane related to her mother everything that had happened since she had been kidnapped from the Mattie Horn, the ship taking her home.

The Queen listened with astonishment as Akane narrated waking up to Ranma and Shampoo, seeing Shampoo cut off her hair. She drew breath sharply when Akane told her about Kulloden.

"No, he is dead!" she exclaimed.

"You know him?" Akane asked.

"Yes! We all know him. He used to be Soun's advisor, until Happosai exposed him for his evil sorcery many years ago. This was before…before you were born."

Akane continued her story, speaking of how Mousse's accidental geas had forced Ranma to trek to the palace, as well as take Akane with him. The Queen listened intently. Akane told her about Rouge the demon, and the Queen paled when she heard of Akane being almost eaten. Akane wisely left out all mentions of being kissed by Ranma. She did mention Ryouga.

"But Ryouga lives here!" The Queen exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Akane asked.

"Why, Ryouga's father is the royal head gameskeeper."

Akane couldn't wrap her head around this new information. "Unbelievable!" she said. Then what had he been doing out in the forest? Surely Happosai could have cured him!

"Oh Akane, I have so much to tell you!" The Queen drew back to look at her daughter, stroking away chopped strands of hair from Akane's face. "This whole tale has made things much clearer to me now. I can see some of the pieces of the puzzle."

She took a deep breath. "Akane, first of all, I must tell you this. You have always been the daughter of my heart. I love you, and Happosai's vision…it will never change the fact that I'm your mother."

Akane felt fresh tears well up in her eyes. "Oh, mother…" she sobbed.

"That doesn't change the fact that you were given birth by someone else- A friend of my own, in fact."

"A…friend of yours?" Akane asked uncertainly.

"Believe it or not, Akane, many things I had forgotten came back to me when I saw Happosai's vision. Your mother was the daughter of a count. She was one of my ladies-in-waiting when I was still a princess. We were best friends, as a matter of fact." The Queen sat back, and a remembering look came into her eyes. "We used to sneak away into the city together, escaping our personal guard, and just breaking away from the palace. Well, eventually I was married, and so did she, to your father, the Baron of Marten. But we still snuck away together when our husbands were busy.

Then one day, we heard a fair was coming to town. Your mother, madcap that she was, could never resist such a thing. She dragged me along, and we went to the fair. We went from stall to stall, sampled food, tried on jewelry, examined the merchants' wares, until we came to a dark tent, placed by itself in one aisle. Your mother peeked inside, and it was a gypsy's tent. The sign said she would tell our fortunes, so of course we had to try.

"And…when the gypsy read your mother's fortune, she looked up at her with blank eyes, and said, "You are the third daughter in your family." Your mother was impressed. Then the gypsy said- The third daughter of the third daughter will destroy the snake that attacks this kingdom."

"Huh? A prophecy?" Akane asked. "Kasumi, Nabiki. Then that would mean me."

"Yes." The Queen continued her story. "Your mother wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing. She smiled and paid the gypsy, and we went back to the palace. After that, it was discovered that your father…" Here, the Queen stopped, and looked away.

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"Your father the baron was accused of stealing from the king," the Queen said. "I couldn't believe it, and my friend didn't either. She begged Soun to reconsider, but in his fury, he stripped them of their titles, and turned them out of the country."

Akane gasped, her hand rising to her mouth in astonishment. Her father, a baron, turned out by Soun the king, the man she had always _thought_ was her father…oh it was so muddled…

"I was determined to fight for them. She was my friend, you see, but this is the strange part, Akane." The Queen looked deep into Akane's eyes. "When they left, I forgot about them. I believe they were erased from everyone's memory, because no one ever mentioned them again. I mean, NO one. And not just because they were afraid of Soun. Your grandmother, who was also a vocal supporter of your mother, also fell silent, and grew ill and passed away, but I never once associated it with anything but real illness. I simply didn't remember her."

Akane sat stunned, her mind reeling from all this family history suddenly thrust upon her. Behind her, Mousse, too stood astonished.

The Queen looked up the ornate ceiling, lost in thought. Then she said, "Kulloden was Soun's sorcerer at the time, and Happosai was still court magician. But Kulloden tried to attack Soun, to secretly bespell him and steal the kingdom. The plan was discovered by Happosai, who fought with Kulloden and wrested the Book of Juesnkyou from him."

"Jusenkyou! What IS that?" Akane asked, recalling the name from her travels.

"Why Akane! You don't know what Jusenkyou is?" The queen exclaimed. "Oh! I suppose it did happen before…"

"…I was born," Akane finished. "Yes, I know."

The Queen smiled at her. "Jusenkyou, my dear, is a grimoire- a magical book. Its pages are covered with descriptions of various people and creatures. It has the power to transform its reader into whatever the reader is reading about."

"So if I were reading about a parrot, I would be turned into…?"

"Yes! And only the keeper of the book or a very, very powerful sorcerer can turn you back. Kulloden fooled many people into reading the book, and was planning to use it on Soun, you see, but thanks to Happosai, his plan went awry, he lost the Book and he was exiled from Nerima."

"And now he's back to conquer the kingdom again?" Akane asked.

"Yes. He obviously sent the fake Akane here to infiltrate the castle and find the Book."

There was a loud knocking at the entrance to the Queen's suite. From the Queen's bedroom, the three of them watched as a lady-in-waiting opened the door cautiously.

"Yes?" she queried of the guard outside. "What do you want? The Queen is resting."

"The King and Happosai ask the Queen to join them in the King's study," the guard reported. "There is news of some import that she may wish to hear."

"Very well. I will ask her. Wait here." The lady closed the door and approached the Queen's bedroom. Akane and Mousse froze, unsure what to do.

"It's all right," the Queen said. "Don't leave." She stood and greeted her lady, who looked shocked at the sight of these unexpected guests who had arrived from nowhere. She knew Princess Akane at least was locked away in the tower.

"Your Majesty!" she gasped.

"It's all right, Antwone," the Queen said calmly. "Trust me. I heard the guard. I will go to the King."

A few minutes later, the door to the Queen's apartments opened and the Queen, followed by two lightly veiled ladies-in-waiting came out.

"My attendants and I will follow you, Captain," she said. The guard bowed.

**00000000**

In another part of the castle, Shampoo shivered in her chair and watched as Kulloden consulted his books of magic. In her mind, she kept reliving the moment when the angry and bewildered Kunou had turned into a fly. Her throat was frozen. She wanted to call out as Kulloden's long thin fingers came up, slowly, ever more slowly in her memory-it seemed as though she had all the time in the world to cry out, but she never did- and ended his life.

She looked at the clock. Only fifteen minutes left to midnight. And then Ranma would be under Kulloden's power forever. For good. No longer would he own his mind or soul.

Not that she cared. She and Ranma had been rivals for as long she could remember. They had fought each other for Kulloden's attention, for food, for the warm spots in the caves. For all she cared, Ranma could be a puppet for the rest of his life if it meant that she, Shampoo, could move permanently into the palace for the rest of _her_ life.

Perhaps she could look up Mousse. Master was quite skilled at removing people's memories. Perhaps he could remove Mousse's memories, and they could start over.

She had quite liked him, really.

**000000000**

In the study, King Soun, Happosai, Ryouga and Ranma watched as the Queen and her attendants entered. A servant closed the study door tightly behind them as he left. Ranma studied the woman who was supposed to be his real mother. To think- he had never been abandoned after all, but stolen from his crib. Kulloden had much to answer for.

"You can leave your attendants outside, my dear," Soun said, waving to the figures behind the Queen.

"No, I can't," the Queen replied. "They are quite necessary to these proceedings. Don't worry, they are very discreet. And what is Ryouga doing here?" She looked questioningly at Ryouga, who blushed and bowed.

"Ryouga is here because I've asked him to be, Your Majesty," Happosai replied. "His news was invaluable to us, if unwelcome. I cannot say the same of your attendants."

"Let it be, Happosai," Soun said. "We have more important things to worry about."

"What news have you?" the Queen wanted to know. She seated herself.

"Ranma has been telling us quite a lot about his childhood," Soun said. "He spent his life with Kulloden, as you know, my dear. He had a …classmate, I might say, a girl named Shampoo…"

One of the attendants twitched.

"Shampoo was the one who impersonated Akane all these days," Happosai explained in turn. "Having listened to Ranma about the details of the spell, I believe I can now recognize the true Akane if I see her."

"Then please, do so," Akane said, and threw off her veil. Mousse followed suit. Soun, Happosai, Ryouga and Ranma sat shocked. Ranma knew instantly that it was the real Akane. He couldn't have said how he knew. It was something about the way she carried herself, her expression, the look in her eyes.

"Akane!" he exclaimed, unable to stop himself. Those glorious brown eyes swung to him, fury in their depths.

"Ranma," she muttered. "I wish you were dead." He cringed, knowing she had good reason to wish so. After all, the last time she'd seen him, he'd been tying her up in a nasty little room, and leaving her to rot.

"Mousse! What are you doing here?" Happosai questioned in the meantime.

"I'm sorry, master. I knew which Akane was the real one, but Ranma and Shampoo threatened me with Akane's death if I revealed anything to you."

Soun glowered at Ranma, who flushed a dull red. This was not a good place to be, right now, he decided. He'd committed many crimes against Akane, and if Soun knew the half of it, he'd kill Ranma with his bare hands, blood son or no.

"Please, Happosai," Akane said, moving forward gracefully. "Prove it's really me. That's all I care about right now."

"I can't do that," Happosai said stiffly. "I need to despell the fake Akane. There is nothing I can do to the real one."

"Then try your spell here. If it doesn't work on me, then you, at least, will believe it is me," Akane tried to persuade him.

"Very well," he agreed. He raised his tiny hands, and muttered an incantation. Nothing happened. Happosai lowered his hands, his eyes moist. "It is really you, Akane." Smiling, he stood and embraced her. "You have been through a lot, princess."

"Don't call me that," Akane said, hugging him back. "The title if royal truly belongs to _Prince_ Ranma here." Her tone was cutting, and Ranma, who could only take so much, stood up.

"I didn't know this was going to happen!" he exclaimed.

"Well, you were only here to conquer Nerima for Kulloden, weren't you?" she asked. "Don't deny it!"

Ranma spread his hands. "I can't. Not with Kulloden about to take me over any minute."

"What? What are you talking about?" Akane demanded.

Happosai took a deep breath and explained to them about the geas Kulloden had placed on Ranma.

Akane began to laugh. It was an ugly, mocking laugh. "So it's true," she said. "What goes around really DOES come around."

"It might be what I deserve, _princess_," Ranma added her old title mockingly. "However, as I AM the blooded prince, being taken over by Kulloden is NOT going to do Nerima or any of you any good."

"It's nearly time," Happosai said worriedly, looking at the nearby water clock.

"Can't you take the geas off him?" the Queen asked.

"It's been there since he was very, very young, Majesty," Happosai explained. "Only Kulloden can take it off."

"I didn't…" Ranma began, and then groaned as pain shot across his chest. He trembled, and fell to his knees, as wave after wave of pain began to shoot through him. His heart pounded like a snare drum. Blood rushed in his ears, and he felt faint. He put a hand to his head, and could barely make out the sound of concerned and angry voices around and above him.

Ranma's hands clenched in thick soft carpet, trying to ground the pain. To no result. It continued.

"What can we do?" Akane demanded. She'd dropped to her knees too, and grabbed Ranma by the shoulders. But he wouldn't look at her.

"Happosai, there must be something!" Soun shouted.

"Ranma, listen to me!" Happosai commanded. "Fight this! Fight it!"

Ranma shuddered and grew still. He lay flat on the carpet now, his body quiet. Finally, he got to his knees, and looked up at them through level grey eyes.

"It feels better now," he said. "I tried to fight it. I…don't feel possessed." He stood with Akane's help. Despite her angry words, her touch on his arm was gentle.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Happosai asked suspiciously.

"I…think so," Ranma muttered. "I tried to fight it like you said, and the pain decreased, but…my hand still throbs."

"Let me see," Happosai said, moving forward. He picked up Ranma's hand and examined it. "I don't see…"

Ranma raised his hand, and sent out a blast of blue flame. The brunt of it hit Happosai, who was flung backward against the room. The force of the blow made him hit his head against the opposite wall, and he fell unconscious to the floor.

"Ranma!" Akane exclaimed, shocked and frightened.

"Ahhh, I've been waiting years to do that," Ranma purred, examining his smoking fingers. A blue light glowed in his eyes. "Not bad for a puppet."

"Wha…? Why…?" Soun protested. Everyone began to back away.

"He's already in Kulloden's power," Ryouga warned. "The geas has taken effect."

"Ryouga," a voice purred from the entrance to the study. Everyone spun around, except for Ranma, who stood still.

Kulloden and Shampoo stood in the doorway. Kulloden carried the Book of Jusenkyou under one arm. He strode into the room, smiling.

"Ryouga, my goodness, how you fooled me, dear boy," he said, his dark eyes gleaming. "Free me from my curse," he mocked in a falsetto voice. "I detest Happosai! So! You were working for that cretin all along, were you? My enemy had more foresight than I thought." H stopped, moving his gaze from one to the other.

"Ah, Soun," he smiled. "My liege! The author of my exile. At last you can pay for the years I lost on the rocky little island, training my two pups to help me conquer this kingdom, when instead I could already have been sitting on the Nerima throne by now."

Akane stared in horror. Oh, no. Happosai had been her last hope. He had vindicated her, but for what? Just so Kulloden could walk in here and imprison her all over again? No! She'd never allow that to happen.

"Kulloden, you bastard!" Soun shouted. "You won't get away with this, I swear! I should have listened to Happosai and had you beheaded sixteen years ago!"

Ranma, his eyes blazing blue, raised his arm and shot a bolt of blue at Soun, who crumpled.

"Father!" Akane cried, stepping forward.

"Akaaaane," Kulloden smiled, drawing out her name as he turned to her. "Of course. You should be thankful to me. Thanks to me, you had the opportunity to grow up as a princess instead of a fisherman's daughter. It's a chance every girl dreams of. Do you really want to lose all this? Come, Akane, join me. Join me and we shall rule Nerima together. You shall be my bride!" He grasped her chin with his slim hand, pulling her towards him.

Bride? The part of Ranma that was still him, holed away but watching everything that transpired, stirred at this. Bride? Kulloden's bride? Akane? He looked at the stunned, captured princess. Hell,no. There was no way he was letting Kulloden get his hands on Akane, not when he'd been on Kulloden's side, and definitely not now that he'd learned Kulloden had been tricking him all along!

Akane felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Kulloden sounded just like Kunou, she thought to herself. They both seemed to think that all she cared about were the trappings of royalty.

"I'd rather die," she spat.

Kulloden frowned. "Die, then," he said and waved a negligent hand at Ranma, releasing Akane and turning away.

Ranma's arm came up, slowly. Akane stared at him, terrified. The arm came up, inch by inch, but oh so slowly. Sweat beaded on Ranma's forehead.

"Are you fighting me, boy?" Turning back, Kulloden grinned a shark's grin. "Interesting. You seem to care for this chit. I suppose it makes sense. After all, you did spend a few days together. Did you tumble her on the road, then? You are the son of my heart, Ranma, if not my loins…"

"Shut up!" Ranma roared, and released the building blue energy in Kulloden's direction. The energy enveloped him, came up against his barriers, and dissipated.

"It's no use fighting me, Ranma," Kulloden gloated. "I am your master, now and forever! Accept it, boy. I will erase all their memories. Happosai is finally beaten. I will kill him and ensure that everyone remembers only you, the crown prince. Through you, I will rule Nerima."

"Run….Akane," Ranma muttered through clenched teeth. "I can't…hold out against..him. Run…you FOOL!"

Akane tried, heading for the doors but they were locked. Ranma was already being forced to raise his arm. She turned around, the doors at her back. A shot of blue fire blasted from his fingertips and came hurtling towards her. Akane was not a coward anymore, but old habits died hard. She closed her eyes.

There was an explosion, Akane fell backward, and magic swirled harmlessly around her. Akane opened her eyes, and gaped. The doors behind her had blasted open, sending her falling backwards onto the ground.

Rouge in her demon form stood over Akane, shielding her from Kulloden's magic. The sorcerer, too, looked nonplussed.

"R...Rouge?" he stumbled.

"Kulloden, you old dog! What the hell are you up to?" Rouge demanded through her fangs.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

A/N: Somebody asked when Rouge was going to appear. I saved her for the end! And here she is. Since you all reviewed, I tried to update as fast as I possibly could, despite a hard drive crash and other problems.

Only one more chapter, really! And probably an epilogue, but I'll put them out together, hopefully.

So, review:)


	15. Kulloden's Bane

A/N: Okay, that was the last chapter! I just had to finish it off! The Epilogue will tie up all the ends neatly, hopefully, and give an explanation of why Kulloden didn't just kill off Akane when she was born, etc. What will happen to Akane now?

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Chapter 15**

Kulloden's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. He looked a bit like a fish, Akane thought dizzily from her position on the floor.

"Rouge? Is that really you?" Kulloden walked forward in a daze, examining the six armed demon from head to toe.

"Yes, it's me," Rouga affirmed. "And here you are, still playing at sorcery, trying to take over Nerima. Honestly, don't you learn?"

Kulloden's expression grew angry. "What are you doing here?" Abruptly, he thought of something, and looked around at Shampoo, who was crouched in a corner, still looking like Akane.

Rouge looked at Shampoo curiously but only saw a fake face. "I didn't come here for you, Kulloden, but now that you're here, old fool, I should warn you, my magic has grown. I WILL have my revenge."

"Of course, dear Rouge," Kulloden hissed softly. "My magic is substantially greater as well…"

"Liar!" Rouge strode forward. This time, Ranma didn't do anything, Kulloden brought his own arm up, and blasted red light at Rouge, and sent her flying backwards. She crashed through a wall making a big hole in it.

Soldiers came running at the sound, but Kulloden used Ranma to dispel them. Akane got to her feet, quickly, and ran to her mother, who was trying to waken Soun and Happosai.

"Mother," Akane's voice trembled. "You have to get out of here. Kulloden only wants me."

"Akane." The Queen gripped her hand. "Remember what I told you?"

Rouge stood up from the debris that had been the wall, and stalked toward Kulloden with fury in her face. "Damn, you, sorcerer!" She blasted him with her own power. Kulloden retaliated.

"Akane," The Queen shook her, forcing her attention away from the fight. "Listen to me! Remember the prophecy?"

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" The sheer power of the fight frightened Akane, and she only wanted to escape. If Kulloden turned his power on her again, she'd surely die.

"Akane!" Akane turned her attention finally to the Queen, who had a fierce look in her eyes. "Akane, don't you realize it? Kulloden is the one who killed your family. HE framed your parents. HE made us forget them. HE is responsible for their deaths! Because he stole YOU from your mother's arms, Akane!"

Each word drummed into Akane's head like boulders falling, a landslide of words until she could only see red.

"Yes," she said. "I understand."

"Your sisters are not here," hr mother said. ""You are his destruction, Akane."

A fierce light glinted in Akane's eyes. She stood up. She understood now. It was her responsibility. And it was time she took responsibility for something, damn it. "Gladly," she said. "Just show me how."

"That you will have to figure out for yourself, my dear," the Queen said tiredly.

Akane looked around. Rouge was burnt and bleeding now, but still attacking furiously. How did she know Kulloden? Akane had a feeling it was important. How? How? She forced herself to think. They'd found Rouge in the forest, living by herself. She'd told Ranma she was….

A bright flash illuminated Akane's brain. Jusenkyou! Rouge was cursed by Jusenkyou! That's what she'd told Ranma. Which meant Kulloden must have cursed her.

Akane saw that Mousse and Ryouga were holding back Ranma, who was trying to attack them. Only Shampoo stood apart, watching it all with big eyes.

Shampoo…Akane remembered what Ranma had told her in the forest.

"Shampoo's mother sold her to him. We've never met her. She was a servant who wanted to buy her passage to another country."

Akane had seen Shampoo only briefly, but she remembered those distinct features. She looked around. Happosai! He lay close to where her father lay, moaning. Quickly, Akane crept along the wall to him.

"Happosai!" she whispered. "Wake up! I need your help!"

He groaned, putting a hand to his head. "Happosai!" Akane shook him. "You said you could do the disenchantment spell on the fake me. Do it now!"

"Now?" Happosai groaned.

"Yes! Now!"

Happosai groaned, gathered his strength, and waved his hand feebly. A blue light shone around his fingers. Across the room, Shampoo lost her disguise.

Akane studied her carefully. "I knew it," she said, pleased. Now all she had to do…What had Ranma done? She spied a carafe of water. Ah, yes.

Rouge spluttered and choked a couple of minutes later when she felt warm water splash her. Her extra arms shrunk and disappeared and she reverted to normal.

"Princess Akane?" she muttered. "What are you doing?"

Akane flashed her a quick smile of apology and got out of the way. Kulloden's next blast caught Rouge unawares, and she went flying. Her human body was weaker, and it hurt more.

"Coming over to my side after all, Akane?" Kulloden asked, pleased with her actions. He blasted Rouge again, following her into the outer study area.

Akane rushed to Shampoo's side, who looked at her doubtfully.

"Shampoo! Listen, I've got something really important to tell you. Rouge is your mother."

"Whaaat?" Shampoo stuttered. "That woman, fighting Kulloden?"

"Yes! Don't you see? Rouge was his servant! He got rid of her by cursing her with Jusenkyou's power, and kept you for himself!"

"Wha…?Why? What rubbish!" Shampoo exclaimed. "You're just trying to get me to betray him!"

"Yes! Because what did he ever do for you?" Akane demanded. "I can see Rouge's features in your face. So can you. You can see they know each other! And have you ever seen her before? No? I didn't think so! She's your mother. She never abandoned you. Kulloden made her!"

"Kulloden would never betray me like…" Shampoo paused in her vehement denial, her eyes turned to the bespelled Ranma, fighting off Mousse and Ryouga. She choked.

"You see?" Akane asked gently. "He's a monster. All he ever wanted was Nerima, and he didn't care how many families he trampled on to do it."

"H…he killed Kunou," Shampoo whispered, her eyes tearing up. "With the Book. I'm sorry."

Akane gasped. But this was no time to think about that. She had to act. "He's a monster," she repeated. She took a deep breath. "Please, Shampoo, tell me how to defeat him before he kills your mother as well."

"Only iron can kill a sorcerer," Shampoo said. "But he has a shield around him. He never lets go of it."

"I have an idea," Akane said.

Rouga moaned as she lay in the rubble, unable to move. Kulloden stood over her, grinning madly. "Now, Rouge," he said.

"Master! Ranma has escaped!" Shampoo ran forward, tugging at Kulloden's arm. Kulloden felt for his bond with Ranma, and was surprised when he couldn't feel it. What had happened? The geas was unbreakable! Cautiously he explored the line further, but met only darkness.

Oh, no. It would be trouble if Ranma escaped his leash now! Casting caution aside, he let go of his shields and tentatively reached out.

"Now, Akane!" Shampoo shouted. Kulloden looked down, as Akane rushed into his arms, almost as if to hug him. Her breasts brushed up against him as she smiled up into his eyes. But instead of putting her arms around him, she plunged a dagger deep into his stomach.

"That's for my family," she murmured into his ear. He gasped, and tried to staunch the wound, but the iron wouldn't let him use his magic to close the wound. He fell, gasping, feeling blood bubble in his throat.

"For Nerima," Akane bent and whispered into his ear. "For Kasumi and Nabiki, who lived without me for so long. Die, damn you!"

A grey fog came over Kulloden's vision, and at the edges he glimpsed the fires of hell. "I knew…it would…be you," he whispered. Then, he died.

Akane got off of him, her short hair hanging in wet sweaty strands around her face. It was done. She'd killed the sorcerer. She moved away, feeling nauseous. She looked down. The bloody dagger was no longer in her hand, but her hand was covered with blood. Kulloden's blood

Who would have thought a sorcerer could bleed like that, she wondered, and fainted.

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A/N: Well there you go! It was bit hurried, but I absolutely had to get it out! Now the epilogue will show up pretty soon. And we'll see Ranma and Akane again. ;)

So click and review!


	16. Epilogue! Secret of the Heart

WW, panda-tiney, ranmakane-4ever, nm3, Akinababy, Lady Mokodane, avolare, kiersten, Oyuki, pokey, Sieg1308, SakK, clavira89 ie people who reviewed the last two chapters, thanks so much for your encouragement. When I'm sitting at the computer, there's always ONE email that prods me to thinking-Oh, it's time to write the next chapter. It can be from any of you, but it's what works! And that's how I managed to finish this story. I read one fic where the author devoted her fic to Lady Mokodane because she was so encouraging to the author. :)

Mike: I'm glad you noticed how Ranma and Akane changed slowly into the people we know, though versions more ready to love each other. Couldn't fit any more hentai in here, sorry. I did what I could.

Shi Feng Huang: Hey, I totally agree. I did feel it was rushed. If I had the time and inclination, I could have easily added another 5 chapters, adding more depth and breadth to the story. But by this point, I was really gathering steam to finish, and just couldn't get the time to really spin out every detail, much as I would have liked to. But I do salute your insight.

Hououza : I do like your comments! Esp. when you actually comment on a plot point.

Angela Jewell: Thanks for being one of the few reviewers who do comment on plot points. I get the feeling you and these others really do read the whole chapter, and it makes me feel satisfied that someone appreciated the plot I took time to spin out, and that I don't HAVE to write a Ranma lemon that says "Ranma. Akane. Bedroom. Sex" for people to read it.

alanna28: Hm, I never thought of it that way! I guess I do tend to Akane the hero…Well, she's so neglected, it only feels right. But that's certainly a new idea for me. :)

RuedaAmbrosia : Yeah, I know you were kidding about the bribe. ;)

A/N: Okay, here is the epilogue. This story is done, finito! Whew, thank goodness!

Disclaimer: Ranma and Co. of course don't belong to me.

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**Epilogue**

Sounds curled in Akane's ears like wisps of smoke, but she couldn't understand them. Slowly, slowly, the sounds became clearer, though the world remained dark.

"I think I always hated him," the voice was saying. "You do make me see things differently, Akane."

She opened her eyes. It was too bright, and she squinted. Eventually, she got used to the light, and looked around. She lay on a small bed. Next to her, Ranma lay in another bed, half buried in blankets. He was looking up at the ceiling, talking out loud.

"Ranma?" she queried, wondering what on earth he was doing there. Where was her mother? Then she remembered. Oh, yes. Her heart sank all over again.

He jerked, and turned to look at her with wide eyes. "Akane? Akane, you're awake! They said you wouldn't wake up till tomorrow!" His face looked pale and drawn, she thought, as though something had used him terribly. Used him and discarded him.

"What happened?" she asked. "How long have I been asleep?"

"I promised I'd call for someone the moment you woke up," Ranma said, his grey eyes worried. "They've been keeping watch over you, but…Well, we're in the nursery's infirmary. It was the closest place they could move us after you…after you collapsed."

Akane suddenly remembered. "Kulloden," she whispered. "Is he…?"

"Yes, he's dead," Ranma replied, sitting up against a mound of white pillows, his neck turned uncomfortably in her direction.

Akane didn't know what to say. She looked down at the blankets that covered her, fighting not to cry.

"Akane, I'm…Listen, I know I've been a complete bastard…And, I'm really sorry, for everything I put you through," Ranma said in a rush. He looked haunted and his voice was quiet. "I just wanted to let you know that before…."

"Akane! You're awake!" The Queen, a nurse behind her, came rushing in, delight on her face. "Oh, Soun and I have been so worried! How are you feeling, my dear?"

Akane lay quietly as the Queen and the nurse fussed over her. Ranma watched her worriedly from his bed, but eventually he tired, and fell asleep. Akane found herself relaxing when she was no longer under his scrutiny.

"Ranma's body was exhausted from fighting Kulloden's magic, and being possessed by it," the Queen confided in Akane. "Happosai says that Kulloden's geas had been on him so long that its disappearance sapped his life energy greatly. The poor boy. He's been recovering just like you."

The poor boy, indeed. Akane snorted to herself. The poor boy had tied her up in a dungeon and left her to rot, damn him! Sure, he sounded sorry now, but why bother? He had everything he could want! Why didn't he just laugh and have her thrown out of the palace? She glared daggers at the other bed as memories of their trip together came back to her. And then memories of an entirely different kind ran through her mind, of Ranma's hand inching up her bare leg, and she flushed and turned away.

Later, Kasumi and Nabiki were brought in to see Akane. They took one look at the sleeping Ranma and talked in whispers to Akane.

"The Queen told us the truth," Kasumi said, teary-eyed. "Oh, we're so glad that people believe in our parents' innocence now."

"We had no idea that they were just forgotten, you see," Nabiki said bitterly. "Who knew spells could work like that?"

"I'm sorry, Akane, I feel as though we failed you," Kasumi said, seizing Akane's hand in her own. She smiled down at her youngest sister.

"_I_ think it would have been better if you had never known," Nabiki interrupted. "After all, you were the princess. Anything else would be…less."

"You are mistaken," Akane said firmly. "I certainly don't think you are less. If anything, I do mourn the fact that I never met our mother." _But I feel like I still have one_, she added silently.

"How is Ayako?" she asked brightly, before they all dissolved in tears.

Her sisters smiled at that, and began to describe Ayako's latest antics. Akane wasn't quite ready to hear more about her birth parents, but she found it easy to talk to Kasumi and even Nabiki.

Later, when she was recovered and nearly whole, and after Ranma had recovered enough to be moved into a richly furnished room of his own, the Queen called her in to talk to her. She was dressed in black, as was Akane. The kingdom was in mourning for Prince Kunou.

"You're no longer the princess, Akane, but we've restored your parents' rightful lands to you and your sisters," the Queen said. "You are the Honourable Lady Akane now. You have your own lands."

Akane did her best to avoid Ranma and Shampoo. The latter spent a lot of time with her rediscovered mother. Akane couldn't decide whether to be jealous of her or not. After all, Shampoo's life until now had hardly been a picnic. Akane could hardly grudge her some happiness, even if the witch had planned to kill Akane.

She couldn't understand why she found it easier to forgive Shampoo than Ranma.

She was polite to him when they met, but avoided his attempts at conversation. Then finally, Akane began making plans to leave. She couldn't stay at the palace forever.

She was in her room, supervising the packing, when Ranma appeared.

"A…Akane," Ranma cleared his throat awkwardly. Damn it! He was the prince of the kingdom, wasn't he? He could act it if he had to.

She looked at him over her shoulder. As the sole heir to the kingdom, he was richly dressed in black and silver. He looked very handsome. Akane couldn't help wishing him out of her sight.

"I'm sorry…about all this," he gestured around him. He truly was, he realized. He'd caused her a lot of pain, and for what? Greed. Misguided vengeance. And his foolish actions in following Kulloden.

And now, Akane was bereft of the home and family she had known all her life. Her brother was dead. Not that that was much of a loss, by all accounts. But still…

He tried again. "Look, you don't have to leave. This is your home."

Akane shook her head. "No, it's not. It used to be. But…I have a different family. Kasumi and Nabiki met with the Queen. I was there. They've…invited me to live with them."

"In the cottage?" Ranma asked, thinking of the cramped space.

Akane smiled. "Kasumi's husband is a sailor. He will be home soon on leave. The Queen plans to give him a promotion, and she also insists on rebuilding the cottage, to make it...bigger." Akane smiled faintly, looking into the distance.

"It's all right," she said, finally. "I can't say that some part of me doesn't hate you right now for what you did, and who you turned out to be." Ranma cringed. "But," she looked up at him, forcing herself to face at least one truth. "I was never a real princess. I was too sheltered, too weak. Until you came along. You forced me to think, to plan, to look beyond my own small world."

She grinned. "Not that you did it out of any benevolent motive, but still…" She supposed it would all work out for the best. She was actually looking forward to getting to know her blood sisters better.

"I...would like to be friends," Ranma said. He approached her. "I used you horribly, I know. But I can't be completely sorry for that."

Akane blushed. To bring that up of all things. The nerve of him. And of course his words brought up all the images she had shoved to a far corner of her mind, Ranma kissing her, his hands roaming…

"I've reformed," Ranma said. "Really."

A smile played on Akane's face, but her slim figure tensed. "Really? Can the leopard change his spots that fast?"

Ranma shrugged. He found that he didn't want Akane to leave. He very much wanted to keep her around. That smile, that face, had grown dear to him. When he'd first met her, she'd seemed the most spoiled, naive human being alive, but since then, circumstances had brought out her inner strength, a stubbornness nothing could erase.

"Will you marry me?" he blurted.

Akane stared at him, shocked. All coherent thought fled from her mind. "What?"

Having said it once, Ranma couldn't quite get up the courage to repeat the insanity. But he waited for her answer anyway.

"I can't marry you!" Akane exclaimed, disbelief in her clear brown eyes. "You're the most obnoxious person I've ever met!" Was he mad? She'd kill him on their wedding night, if not before!

A dart of hurt speared Ranma somewhere around his stomach. Cracks of dull pain spread out from it slowly.

"Yeah, but…" He stopped. He couldn't think of anything to say.

"I really don't know you that well," she said, appeasing him for some reason she couldn't fathom.

"It makes sense," he forced the words past his hurt. "You wouldn't have to leave. I mean, you'll be the princess again, and queen someday, which you wouldn't of been with Kunou around."

She flinched; so did he. "I'm sorry," he said miserably. "That's not at all what I was gonna say."

"You don't have to marry me out of pity," Akane said, her gaze moving to the window. How she wished she'd left before Ranma appeared and posed his confusing questions.

She was disappointed, and Ranma's sharp ears caught it. Perhaps she wasn't so against him as he thought.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," he said. "Maybe you'll change your mind."

Akane watched in confusion as he left.

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_Two weeks later_

"Akane! Lunch," Kasumi called from the kitchen.

In the kitchen garden, Akane was toiling away at the weeds growing around their vegetables. She pulled out a last stubborn plant and regarded the rest with irritation. "I'll get you all, just wait and see," she muttered under her breath, and stood. "Coming, Kasumi!"

"I guess now that you're not a princess anymore, you spend a lot of time on your knees, huh?" An amused voice reached Akane's ears. She recognized it immediately, and shot up.

"Ranma?"

"The one and only."

"You jerk."

"The one and only."

Akane pushed back her gardening hat to look at Ranma. He was dressed casually but elegantly in a white tunic and black trousers, with boots to match, as well as sorcerer's bracers on his wrists. He dressed nothing like Kunou, thank goodness. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, abruptly aware of her soiled gardening gloves, sweaty dress and sticky face. Probably she was sunburnt, too. Dagnabbit.

But all Ranma saw as he gazed down at Akane was the rosy glow on her cheeks from the sun, her sparkling eyes, her rosy mouth. He reached out and pushed a sweaty tendril of hair away from her face.

"Ranma, is that you?" Kasumi peered out of the kitchen window. "We're just having lunch. Do join us."

"Thank you, Kasumi, I'd like that," Ranma called back. Akane cast him a fulminating glance, but allowed him to follow her indoors.

As Kasumi served oven fried halibut and vegetable soup, Ranma told them what he'd been up to. He got daily lessons in deportment and history and all sorts of things princes had to learn. He was also apprenticing with Happosai, alongside Mousse, to learn more magic.

"It drives me up the wall!" he exclaimed. "There are a hundred different rules for everything! There are three hundred noble families in Nerima alone! And I'm suppoed to learn all their names before the Spring ball."

The Spring Ball. Akane felt a pang in her heart as she remembered the previous years, when she would eat her supper early, and her tutor would allow her to sit on one of the back stairs and glimpse the line of nobles waiting to greet her parents the king and queen. She had been especially looking forward to being allowed to dance this year. She would have been courted and feted. She shook all that off.

Akane knew she should have as little to do with Ranma as possible, but sitting at the thick, wood table, watching him, she couldn't resist saying, "I can help you with that."

"Huh?" Ranma turned to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was a child, my tutor showed me a rhyme that you can learn to remember the families."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma looked interested. "How does it go?" He picked up a piece of bread and chewed it.

"Let's see." Akane cleared her throat, trying to revive her memory.

_Ailis arrive late,_

_Anders like arithmetic,_

_Brindells bake cakes,_

_Berns are diabetic. _

"What? That sounds a bit idiotic, Akane," Nabiki murmured, spooning up her vegetabe soup.

"Yes, but it works,"Akane defended herself. "Once you know all thirty-six verses, you're set."

"Thirty-six verses?" Ranma said slowly, considering. "That would take a while to learn, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," Akane replied, worried that Nabiki's mocking had discouraged him.

Ranma smiled. "And you'll teach me?"

"Um, I suppose so," Akane replied. He obviously needed help.

"All right, it's a deal," Ranma said, smiling. What Akane didn't know was that the Queen had already offered to teach him the song, but he'd known Akane would know it, and he'd much prefer _her_ company.

"Let's start after lunch, then, shall we?" Inwardly, he chuckled at his cleverness.

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_Three weeks later_

Akane entered the palace for the first time as a guest. With Nabiki beside her, she looked around at the fairylights and gorgeous silver and gold decorations placed around the ballroom. The Spring Ball was about to start, and the Queen had insisted Akane attend with her sisters.

Smiling on the arm of her tall, handsome husband, Kasumi looked around.

"Oh, look, people are dancing!"

Kasumi's husband bent a loving glance on his wife. "Would you like to dance, my love?"

"Oh, yes!" They disappeared in the crush of people.

"I'm starving," Nabiki announced. "Where's the food?"

"It's usually near the musicians," Akane waved her in the right direction, ready to follow her. But a hand on her arm detained her.

"Akane."

"Yes?" She looked up into grey-blue eyes. _Ranma_. "Oh. You look very handsome." And he did. In his black, superfine tuxedo and white gloves, he looked so dashing, the dream prince of every girl. His hair was loose tonight, flowing in soft midnight waves past his shoulders. The sight took Akane's breath away.

"Thank you for the compliment," he said, humour twinkling in his eyes. "Thanks to you, I now remember the names of everyone I've been talking to. Everyone is very impressed."

"You learned very fast," Akane insisted, wondering if he would comment on her appearance. She wore a rose dress, trimmed with silver, that brought out her curves just so. Her hair, still short, had silver ribbons intricately woven into the strands.

"Your sisters look lovely," Ranma said archly.

_And me_? Akane wanted to scream, but she resisted the impulse.

"And you as well, of course," Ranma added, as though sheer politeness had forced him to say it. He laughed inside as he watched Akane grit her teeth.

"Thank you," she said.

Because Ranma had approached her from behind, she hadn't seen the stunned look he wore when he first beheld her. He'd had time to hide the star-struck look in his eyes.

Spending time with Akane these last few weeks, Ranma had come to the realization that he would have to force Akane into admitting that she liked him.

"Your sister certainly enjoys dancing," he said as they watched Kasumi whirl by. Akane tensed. Was he going to aske her? What should she say?

"I was wondering if you would care to be my partner …" Ranma paused. "..for supper."

"No than…Er, supper?" Akane fumbled. Supper was what one invited one's friends to. Supper was not where you danced together, but where you conversed together.

"Yes, the dance will be convening for supper soon," Ranma replied.

"Well, er." He could hardly molest her during supper, Akane decided. "Thank you, I'm honoured."

"Excellent," Ranma said. There were different ways to seduce a woman, he decided, if not with touches, then with words.

_Two months later_

"Akane! I've made you lunch," Kasumi called from the kitchen. "Don't forget it before you go."

"All right, Kasumi." Dressed in a light lilac gown and a straw summer hat, Akane almost skipped down the stairs in sheer joy of living.

The last three months had been very busy for all of them, what with the extra construction of floors and rooms to Kasumi and Nabiki's cottage. Now the tiny place had grown to over three times its original size, and Akane had had to stop the Queen from making it even bigger. Three stories high, it was now quite big enough for Kasumi and her husband and child, Nabiki and Akane, with rooms left over for guests and storage.

Akane had discovered that having lands also meant having to manage them. Oh, not that she herself had to do all that much. The Queen had recommended an excellent steward for the purpose, but the man believed that Akane should know everything that went on in her lands, from sheep to farms to tenants.

And in fact, she was scheduled to meet him again for another ride to view some grain fields today.

Akane picked up her lunch basket from the kitchen table, and smiled at Nabiki on her way out. Nabiki quite enjoyed their new status, and was busy examining her latest collection of hats in the parlour.

Leaving through the kitchen entrance, Akane passed through the garden and swung open the garden gate, stepping out into the small lane behind their house.

"I thought you'd never leave," growled a voice.

"Ranma!" Akane gasped as she spied the shadowy figure leaning up against the high, grey brick wall that fenced her house. Then she saw the figure next to him.

"Shampoo," she said, with much less enthusiasm. She watched as Ranma spoke a few words softly to Shampoo. He took her hand and pulled her into the sunlight. The sight brought an abrupt sense of annoyance to Akane. Why on earth was he holding her hand?

Shampoo, now looking her normal self, smiled hesitantly at Akane. She'd spent some of the last three months getting to know Rouge, her birth mother. It had turned out the before Ranma and Shampoo, Rouge had been Kulloden's apprentice.

"Who do you think took care of his things before you two came along?" Rouge had demanded with a cocked eye.

Ranma had shivered. "How old was he?"

Akane had had a question. "Why did he never kill me at birth? I would have saved him a lot of trouble."

"You were prophesied his bane, Akane," Rouge said. "Magic states that if Kulloden had killed you at birth, he would have lost his magic powers immediately. That's how magic works. It balances things somehow. Kulloden waited until you grew up, knowing he had a much better chance of success if he simply pitted his magic powers against you later on. But he got greedy. He wanted Nerima, and Ranma, and everything. That's where he failed."

Outside the garden, Ranma continued to draw Shampoo forward. Did he have to hold her hand like that? Akane wondered.

"Akane, Shampoo and I have some news for you," he said.

Abruptly, her heart chilled. Had Ranma for some reason chosen Shampoo over her? Had she kept him waiting too long? In the face of imminent loss, Akane suddenly acknowledged how much the pigtailed boy had actually come to mean to her. Was it too late?

"I'm leaving," Shampoo declared.

"What?"

"I can't stay here any longer," Shampoo looked shamefaced. "I can't face the King and Queen any longer, knowing what I did. I have to get away."

"What about your mother?" Akane asked, secretly relieved. "Doesn't she mind?"

Shampoo coloured. "No, she says that it's good that she found me, but ever since Happosai cured her, she's thinking of opening up her own business in Nerima. She thinks it's quite all right for me to go out and see the world, since I never saw much of it living on the island."

"Oh, of course," Akane murmured.

Ranma had been silent during this exchange but now he stepped forward with a smile. "Mousse is going with her."

"Mousse?" Akane asked.

"Yes," Shampoo said, blushing slightly. "He wants to see the world as well."

"Imagine that," Akane said, hiding a smile behind her hand.

Later, after they had escorted Shampoo back to the palace gates, Ranma turned to look at Akane.

"Come on, Akane."

"You know I'm meeting with my steward today," she admonished him. "I'll be late if I don't leave soon."

"I told him you'd be late," Ranma said shortly. He looked up, and his eyes glinted.

Akane's heart thumped. "W…why would you do that?" she asked. He looked down at her impatiently.

Ranma had shown up at the cottage almost every other day since the Spring Ball, on one pretext or another. Akane couldn't say she wasn't glad to see him, but her heart found it difficult to trust him. He was kept quite busy learning his new duties and responsibilities in a short period of time, something he found frustrating. More and more, Akane found herself drawing on her own knowledge to coach him through a royal ritual or teach him the reason for a boundary or custom.

It had brought them closer together, to Ranma's delight and Akane's discomfort.

He grabbed her hand now. "Come," he said. He'd learned that autocratic tone very soon after becoming a prince, Akane thought with annoyance. Then again, perhaps it just came naturally to some people.

A groom riding a horse came trotting out of the palace gates and reining up in front of the pair, dismounted and bowed to them.

"Prince Ranma, Lady Akane," he said in a respectful tone. Although Akane wasn't the princess anymore, everyone in the palace treated her with far greater respect than they ever had. They knew she had been responsible for saving them.

"Thanks." Ranma caught the reins of the horse and thanked the groom. He mounted swiftly, and before Akane could see what he was about, reached down and scooped her up into his arms.

Akane gasped, caught by surprise. "Ranma!"

The guards and groom grinned approvingly.

Ranma nudged the horse away from the gate, and let it trot down the busy fairway that led up to the palace. He'd seated Akane in front of him, and she twisted around to try and glare at him.

"What on earth are you doing?" she demanded.

"Shh, you'll see," he said, grinning. They rode out of the city centre, and took one of the byways deep into the woods. Akane started to get worried. Had her stewart really been contacted? What was Ranma getting upto? He was being very highhanded about everything.

Eventually, they rode into a glade, wild and flowering, sheltered from the forest path by broad tree trunks. Here, Ranma let Akane down and dismounted himself.

Akane swung about, her skirt flaring. "All right, now what is all this about?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

Ranma walked closer and tilted the brim of Akane's hat back. "It's been three months, Akane. Today, one way or another, you're going to answer me. And it better be the right answer. Are you going to marry me or not?" He flung his head to get a lock of hair out of his eyes, looking very much like an impatient young stallion himself.

"I…uh…" Akane stumbled, remembering the moment behind her walled garden when she had thought Ranma was going away with Shampoo. She stared up into his glorious eyes. In this light, they were more blue than grey.

"Cat got your tongue?" he mocked. "You were very vocal in the forest. Back in the city, you've become the prim and proper lady I first met."

"You mean the one you half drowned in the ocean?" Akane asked pointedly.

Ranma frowned. "You do hold a grudge, don't you?" He sighed. "Last chance. What's your answer?"

Akane refused to be baited. "Look, there's no reason for…"

Ranma's smile took on a gleeful edge. "Time's up. I guess we do this the easy way."

"The EASY w..?" Akane could get no more words out, because Ranma yanked her into his arms, and proceeded to kiss her very thoroughly. For a few seconds, Akane stiffened, afraid he was going to be rough again. But her body remembered his lips, and his fingers.

Ohhhh…

Her body began to melt against his, like butter against a hot knife. Ranma smiled against Akane's lips. Yes, he should have tried this long ago. Then he wouldn't have had to wait so long. His desire for her had only grown over the last three months. And it seemed the reverse was true as well. He smiled against Akane's lips, never ceasing his kisses.

He slipped his hands around her ribcage, his thumbs rubbing softly against the material of her dress. He dipped his head and nuzzled her neck, eliciting a moan from Akane. She rested her head against his shoulder, and sighed with pleasure as Ranma laid a soft trail of kisses across the soft skin of her shoulder. He hit a particularly vulnerable spot, and she shivered.

"Will you marry me?" Ranma murmured.

"Hm?" Akane asked, dazed.

"I love you," he whispered desperately against her hair. "_Please_ marry me."

"What?" Startled, Akane raised her head, but Ranma's gaze avoided hers. "What did you say?"

"I said-marry me," he replied, praying she wouldn't persist.

"Before that," she insisted.

His azure eyes swung to meet hers. "I love you," he said shortly. He released her, and turned away. Akane shivered again, from the cold this time.

"Is that bad?" she asked. New tenderness for Ranma was welling up in her, from a place in her heart that she hadn't really examined before. A place filled with something she was too scared to describe.

"Yes. No. I mean, it used to be. It was not something that lived on the island," Ranma said.

"Do you mean it?" she asked.

"Of course I mean it," he cried harshly. "And so, you are going to be mine, by hook or by crook, even if I have to bynde you to me again so you never move a step away from me…"

Akane took a step closer. "You don't have to do that," she said softly. "I'm here. I'll marry you."

"Because you feel sorry for me?" he demanded.

"No," she replied. "Because, I love you too."

His eyes widened. He abruptly looked like a young boy offered something precious. "Really?" he asked. "How do you know?"

Now that Akane had discovered the secret place in her heart, she could look into it, and all she found there was love.

She stepped into Ranma's arms, and kissed him with all the passion in her young heart. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

He laughed, and kissed her back. "I believe you," he said. "I wanted your kingdom, but all along, you were the real prize."

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A/N: Ooh, what an ending. Corny, maybe, but I just couldn't help it. ;) Now, what SHALL I work on next?

Do review:)


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